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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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Word bank
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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: fork · press · race · calf · spring · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. press — to push
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. press — a publisher
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fork — in a road
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. race — humankind
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — of water
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. chest — a box
  15. press — newspapers
  16. race — a contest
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. calf — a young animal

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