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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: press · march · rash · degree · stand · vault · chest · plane

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. vault — a safe
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. press — a publisher
  6. rash — a series
  7. march — the month
  8. stand — to bear
  9. march — music
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — the month
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. degree — temperature
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. chest — of your body
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. rash — hasty
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. press — newspapers
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. plane — a tool

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