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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: cold · chest · press · lash · degree · racket · content · wave

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. press — a publisher
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — temperature
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. content — the amount
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. degree — an amount
  16. content — happy
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — to push
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chest — a box

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