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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 · spring · race · date · vault

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. press — a publisher
  3. date — the fruit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. press — to push
  7. spring — a coil
  8. race — the arms race
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spring — of water
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. race — humankind
  16. press — newspapers
  17. spring — the season
  18. race — a contest

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