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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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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: bat · chest · fall · mark · foot · mate · tear · press

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. foot — a measure
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. chest — of your body
  7. press — to push
  8. mark — a grade
  9. chest — a box
  10. mate — a friend
  11. fall — the season
  12. bat — the animal
  13. press — a publisher
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mate — to breed
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. press — newspapers
  24. fall — to drop

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