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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. press — to push
  4. bass — low music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — a list
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. press — a publisher
  10. key — in music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. roll — a cake
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tear — from crying
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bass — the fish
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. chest — a box
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bass — the instrument

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