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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 · clip · degree · racket · press · mouse

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. clip — to cut
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — for paper
  9. press — newspapers
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. degree — an amount
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. pound — a weight

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