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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 120 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
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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: chest · degree · press · club · pitcher · lie · firm · scale

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. scale — in music
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. club — for dancing
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. lie — to recline
  7. chest — a box
  8. press — a publisher
  9. club — for golf
  10. firm — a company
  11. firm — decided
  12. firm — steady
  13. degree — an amount
  14. club — a group
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. degree — from a university
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — temperature
  20. press — to push
  21. chest — of your body
  22. press — newspapers
  23. scale — size or range
  24. chest — of your body

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