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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rush — hurry
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — a weight
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. press — newspapers
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — a subject
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. foot — a measure
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. stem — to come from
  16. chest — of your body
  17. field — for sport
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. press — a publisher
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. chest — a box
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. field — farmland
  24. stem — a stem cell

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