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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: wound · pit · rest · press · degree · bark · court · ground

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. press — to push
  6. press — a publisher
  7. ground — a position
  8. press — newspapers
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pit — a hole
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. court — of law
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — crushed
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ground — the earth
  23. court — of a king
  24. rest — a break

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