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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: arm · ball · clip · press · hand · key · chest · rush

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rush — hurry
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chest — of your body
  9. press — a publisher
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chest — a box
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. key — in music
  14. clip — a video
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — to cut
  19. key — the most important part
  20. ball — a dance
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. key — for a lock
  24. ball — a round shape

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