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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: degree · jam · press · bat · band · stock · lie · pop

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. pop — to visit
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. pop — soda
  7. degree — an amount
  8. press — to push
  9. degree — from a university
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. band — a ring
  18. pop — music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. band — a music group
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. lie — to recline

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