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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — a contest
  5. press — a publisher
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. mate — a partner
  8. press — to push
  9. press — newspapers
  10. chest — a box
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. mate — to breed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. race — humankind
  21. kid — child
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — not warm

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