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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 · bark · pass · face · field · chair · net · degree

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. net — in sport
  3. face — to confront
  4. degree — an amount
  5. press — to push
  6. degree — from a university
  7. face — to point toward
  8. net — after costs
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bark — to shout
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. field — farmland
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — a subject
  18. face — part of the head
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. field — for sport
  24. chair — a leader

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