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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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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: chest · wave · press · bay · wind · saw · hide · trunk

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. chest — a box
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. press — a publisher
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. press — newspapers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. chest — of your body
  23. press — to push
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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