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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: nail · stand · press · racket · bat · kid · cell · pound

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. stand — to bear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. kid — child
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. press — a publisher
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bat — the animal
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. cell — in biology
  22. press — to push
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. press — newspapers

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