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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: prune · tube · field · press · degree · chip · race · face

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  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. chip — to eat
  2. press — to push
  3. field — for sport
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — an amount
  6. race — a contest
  7. face — to confront
  8. field — farmland
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — part of the head
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — the arms race
  14. degree — from a university
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. race — humankind
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. face — to point toward
  19. prune — to trim
  20. field — a subject
  21. tube — the underground
  22. chip — for betting
  23. press — a publisher
  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