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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. chest — of your body
  4. last — to go on
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — obliged
  8. press — newspapers
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bound — certain
  11. last — final
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — a publisher
  15. march — music
  16. press — to push
  17. chest — a box
  18. last — finally

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