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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — a box
  4. degree — temperature
  5. band — a music group
  6. lean — to bend
  7. race — the arms race
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. press — to push
  11. chest — of your body
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. race — humankind
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — a contest
  17. plane — a tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. lean — thin
  20. press — a publisher
  21. degree — an amount
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. press — newspapers

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