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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: stem · chair · fine · rest · clip · chest · band · press

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — a video
  4. rest — a break
  5. press — to push
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. press — newspapers
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. fine — all right
  18. chair — a leader
  19. rest — what's left
  20. press — a publisher
  21. rest — what's left
  22. stem — to come from
  23. clip — to cut
  24. chest — a box

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