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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: press · pit · degree · perch · foot · ground · game · rush

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. press — a publisher
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ground — crushed
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. degree — temperature
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. press — to push
  13. ground — a position
  14. foot — a measure
  15. pit — in a race
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ground — the earth
  18. perch — the fish
  19. press — newspapers
  20. rush — hurry
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pit — a hole
  24. foot — part of the body

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