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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: toast · bat · rash · clip · degree · squash · pit · press

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. press — to push
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. clip — a video
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. clip — to cut
  10. squash — the sport
  11. toast — bread
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pit — in a race
  16. press — newspapers
  17. rash — a series
  18. degree — from a university
  19. squash — to crush
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. degree — an amount
  22. press — a publisher
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — a hole

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