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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.

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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: prune · tear · degree · swing · mine · press · ground · temple

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. ground — the earth
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. press — to push
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. tear — to rip
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ground — a position
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. ground — crushed
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. degree — from a university

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