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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · game · kid · leaves · band · coach · prune · chest

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. press — to push
  5. game — wild animals
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. prune — to trim
  11. kid — child
  12. band — a music group
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chest — of your body
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. press — a publisher
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. chest — a box
  22. game — a match
  23. press — newspapers
  24. kid — to tease

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