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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: kid · march · coach · chest · deal · press

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kid — to tease
  3. press — to push
  4. kid — child
  5. press — a publisher
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. press — newspapers
  8. chest — a box
  9. march — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. march — the month
  17. deal — to handle
  18. march — the month

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