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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 · chest · track · plane · capital · wave · face · hand

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. track — a song
  4. capital — a city
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — money
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chest — of your body
  10. plane — a tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. track — a path
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. press — newspapers
  18. hand — help
  19. track — to keep track
  20. press — a publisher
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. face — part of the head
  23. press — to push
  24. face — to point toward

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