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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: press · lash · spring · pitch · wind · ground · degree · kid

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spring — of water
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. press — to push
  11. ground — crushed
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. kid — to tease
  15. degree — an amount
  16. press — a publisher
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. spring — a coil
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wind — moving air

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