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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · press · cap · bat · perch · tube · degree · racket

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. perch — the fish
  6. degree — from a university
  7. press — newspapers
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cap — a lid
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. press — to push
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — of water
  16. degree — temperature
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. tube — a container
  19. spring — the season
  20. press — a publisher
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cap — of ice

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