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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. firm — steady
  3. tube — a container
  4. press — to push
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. band — a music group
  7. tube — the underground
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. band — a ring
  10. firm — decided
  11. press — newspapers
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. net — for catching
  15. press — a publisher
  16. scale — size or range
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — a box
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chest — of your body
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. firm — a company
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — after costs

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