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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. kick — in football
  6. hand — in cards
  7. field — for sport
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. chest — a box
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. hand — help
  15. field — farmland
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. field — a subject
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. swing — in golf
  23. chest — of your body
  24. press — newspapers

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