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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. press — to push
  5. chest — of your body
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. press — newspapers
  8. bat — the animal
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. saw — the tool
  11. band — a music group
  12. press — a publisher
  13. saw — the tool
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pit — a hole
  17. clip — a video
  18. foot — a measure
  19. band — a ring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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