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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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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 · saw · ground · wound · stem · straw · chest · swing

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. press — a publisher
  6. saw — the tool
  7. press — to push
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — a position
  15. stem — to come from
  16. swing — to play on
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. swing — music
  19. ground — crushed
  20. press — newspapers
  21. swing — in golf
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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