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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 · trunk · degree · pitch · field · chest · pass · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. chest — of your body
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. pass — a permit
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — a subject
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. press — to push
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. press — newspapers
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. field — for sport
  21. press — a publisher
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. pass — to spend time

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