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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: lean · hand · bat · rush · press · degree · kid · lash

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — child
  5. press — to push
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. press — a publisher
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. press — newspapers
  12. hand — in cards
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. hand — help
  15. lean — thin
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. lean — to bend
  24. rush — hurry

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