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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: ground · degree · press · kid · ruler · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ground — the earth
  3. kid — to tease
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — a position
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — child
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — to push
  11. file — a document
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. press — newspapers
  18. ruler — a monarch

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