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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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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chest — of your body
  3. press — to push
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chest — of your body
  8. toast — bread
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. chest — a box
  11. chair — a leader
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. press — newspapers
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cell — in biology
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chair — a professorship

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