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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: degree · rush · scale · press · straw · stem · pitcher · object

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. press — to push
  3. degree — temperature
  4. object — a thing
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rush — hurry
  12. degree — an amount
  13. object — an aim
  14. degree — from a university
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stem — to come from
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. press — newspapers
  23. scale — in music
  24. press — a publisher

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