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

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. press — newspapers
  7. prune — to trim
  8. vault — a safe
  9. pound — a weight
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. press — to push
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. degree — temperature
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chest — of your body
  23. press — a publisher
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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