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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: pound · degree · foot · chest · press · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. press — newspapers
  6. degree — an amount
  7. snap — to click
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. pound — a weight
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. chest — of your body
  17. foot — a measure
  18. foot — part of the body

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