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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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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 · craft · rest · rule · pit · wake · wound · degree

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. craft — a skill
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. pit — in a race
  14. craft — boats
  15. degree — from a university
  16. press — newspapers
  17. rule — government
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. rule — a law
  23. rest — a break
  24. rule — to rule out

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