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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · degree · prune · capital · chair · march

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. press — to push
  3. march — the month
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — a city
  9. press — newspapers
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. press — a publisher
  12. march — the month
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chair — a leader
  16. capital — money
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — music

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