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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: mine · degree · season · bark · press · band · chest · march

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. band — a ring
  2. chest — a box
  3. march — the month
  4. season — of the year
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. press — to push
  7. chest — of your body
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. season — in sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. march — the month
  13. bark — to shout
  14. band — a music group
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. press — a publisher
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. degree — an amount
  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