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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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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: press · stock · mate · straw · chest · fall · row · current

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. fall — to drop
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mate — a friend
  5. chest — a box
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. stock — shares
  9. current — happening now
  10. row — to paddle
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. current — electric
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. mate — to breed
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. mate — a partner
  20. press — newspapers
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. current — of water
  24. press — a publisher

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