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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 120 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: nail · degree · net · pit · clip · press · rush · wake

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. press — a publisher
  4. net — after costs
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — a video
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wake — a trail
  10. net — for catching
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. net — in sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pit — in a race
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. nail — on a finger

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