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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. press — a publisher
  5. object — an aim
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mine — for digging
  10. lean — thin
  11. press — to push
  12. bat — the animal
  13. face — to confront
  14. chest — a box
  15. object — a thing
  16. lean — to bend
  17. shower — rain
  18. press — newspapers
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. object — to protest
  23. chest — of your body
  24. shower — to wash

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