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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: bat · degree · mug · sharp · press · wound · kid · bulb

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kid — child
  4. press — a publisher
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. press — newspapers
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. press — to push
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. mug — a face
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bat — the animal
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. bulb — for light
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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