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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: stem · face · press · coach · chest · tear

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. press — a publisher
  4. face — to confront
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. press — to push
  8. stem — to come from
  9. press — newspapers
  10. face — part of the head
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. face — to point toward
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chest — of your body
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip

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