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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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Word bank
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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: hide · kick · degree · press · clip · pound

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. press — to push
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. press — a publisher
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. press — newspapers

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