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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: wake · mate · degree · press · ground · coach · tear · date

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. ground — crushed
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. mate — a partner
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. tear — to rip
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wake — a trail
  12. degree — from a university
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. tear — from crying
  16. ground — a position
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. press — newspapers
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. tear — from crying
  24. ground — the earth

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