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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: degree · press · shower · pitch · mark · kick

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. press — a publisher
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pitch — completely
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. mark — a trace
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. shower — rain
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — to push
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. kick — in football
  18. degree — temperature

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