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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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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: dip · press · kick · chest · straw · spring

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. spring — a coil
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. chest — a box
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. press — to push
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. press — newspapers
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. kick — in football
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — to sink

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