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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: ground · snap · face · key · press · bore · degree · chest

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. snap — to click
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to confront
  5. press — to push
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. face — to point toward
  11. press — newspapers
  12. key — the most important part
  13. bore — to drill
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. press — a publisher
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. key — for a lock
  20. ground — the earth
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ground — a position
  24. key — in music

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