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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: temple · cell · bat · straw · fall · press

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cell — a phone
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — to push
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. fall — to drop
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. fall — the season
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. press — a publisher
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cell — in biology

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