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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 · press · capital · bore · rest · date

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. 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. press — to push
  2. bore — to tire
  3. date — the fruit
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. degree — an amount
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rest — a break
  10. degree — from a university
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rest — what's left
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. bore — to drill
  16. rest — what's left
  17. press — a publisher
  18. 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