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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: press · straw · stick · ground · fan · perch · degree · kick

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. kick — in football
  4. press — a publisher
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. degree — temperature
  7. press — to push
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. degree — an amount
  12. ground — the earth
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — crushed
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. ground — a position
  18. perch — the fish
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. degree — from a university
  23. press — newspapers
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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