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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bore — to drill
  3. press — a publisher
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. swing — to play on
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. swing — music
  11. press — to push
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chest — of your body
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. chest — a box
  19. bore — to tire
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. press — newspapers
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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