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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 · roll · land · tube · current · rash · chest · coach

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. current — happening now
  3. press — a publisher
  4. rash — a series
  5. roll — a list
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. land — ground
  9. current — electric
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. tube — a container
  14. chest — a box
  15. rash — hasty
  16. land — to come down
  17. press — newspapers
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. roll — a cake
  20. press — to push
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. land — a country
  24. roll — on a roll

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