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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: race · lash · wound · bark · bowl · row · degree · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. race — a contest
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. race — the arms race
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bark — to shout
  9. press — newspapers
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — humankind
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. wound — an injury
  23. press — to push
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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