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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 · current · tear · press · present · kid · sharp · degree

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — to tease
  3. press — to push
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — from a university
  6. present — a gift
  7. degree — an amount
  8. current — electric
  9. tear — to rip
  10. current — of water
  11. press — a publisher
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. press — newspapers
  17. present — there
  18. current — happening now
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — child
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — clever

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