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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. press — to push
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wind — moving air
  7. press — newspapers
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. press — a publisher
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — the month
  23. rest — a break
  24. chest — of your body

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