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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spell — letters
  4. press — to push
  5. press — a publisher
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spell — a short time
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. spell — magic
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cell — a phone

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