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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pop — to visit
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. press — to push
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. row — a line
  12. chest — a box
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. press — a publisher
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. press — newspapers
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pop — soda
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pop — 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