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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chest — of your body
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. press — a publisher
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — to paddle
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. wound — an injury
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. row — a line
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bat — the animal
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. press — newspapers
  22. chest — a box
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. press — to push

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