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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: bat · press · shower · safe · pop · band · chest · trunk

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. shower — rain
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a ring
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. shower — to wash
  8. band — a music group
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. chest — a box
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pop — soda
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pop — music

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