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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · press · ruler · racket · bark · degree

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. degree — from a university
  7. press — newspapers
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. degree — an amount
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. bark — to shout
  13. press — a publisher
  14. degree — temperature
  15. press — to push
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chest — a box

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com