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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: date · degree · press · ground · bat · lash · court · land

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. land — to come down
  3. court — of law
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ground — a position
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. ground — crushed
  9. press — newspapers
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bat — the animal
  13. court — for sport
  14. land — a country
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. court — of a king
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. land — ground
  19. ground — the earth
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. press — a publisher
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. press — to push

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