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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 116 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: wind · firm · rest · press · degree · bark

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. firm — steady
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. firm — decided
  9. press — to push
  10. rest — a break
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — to shout
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. firm — a company
  17. rest — what's left
  18. degree — an amount

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