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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
468
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 · pit · degree · fine · face · mine · row · band

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. face — to confront
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — in a race
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. row — a line
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. face — to point toward
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mine — for digging
  13. band — a music group
  14. press — a publisher
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. fine — all right
  17. degree — from a university
  18. press — to push
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. row — to paddle
  21. face — part of the head
  22. band — a ring
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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