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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 · game · hand · mine · tear · chest · vault · bear

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. tear — to rip
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. press — a publisher
  5. game — wild animals
  6. vault — a safe
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — for digging
  11. game — a match
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — to push
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. press — newspapers
  19. chest — a box
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bear — the animal
  22. hand — help
  23. bear — the animal
  24. tear — from crying

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