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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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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: chest · press · wind · bear · foot · wound

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. press — to push
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bear — the animal
  9. wound — an injury
  10. press — newspapers
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. bear — the animal
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — moving air
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. foot — a measure

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