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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: content · bowl · press · row · chest · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cell — a phone
  3. content — happy
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. press — to push
  8. chest — of your body
  9. press — newspapers
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. chest — of your body
  12. press — a publisher
  13. row — to paddle
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — a line
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. content — the amount
  18. bowl — to roll

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