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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: snap · mouse · season · press · kick · fork · cold · degree

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. press — to push
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. degree — temperature
  7. season — of the year
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. press — a publisher
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to click
  19. degree — from a university
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. season — in sport

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