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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: bulb · dip · tear · degree · wound · press · net · pop

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bulb — for light
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pop — soda
  6. net — in sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bulb — for light
  11. press — to push
  12. tear — to rip
  13. degree — temperature
  14. net — after costs
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pop — music
  17. net — for catching
  18. press — a publisher
  19. degree — from a university
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. press — newspapers
  23. pop — to visit
  24. degree — an amount

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