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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: cold · press · chest · pit · chip · lean · pass · band

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. lean — to bend
  3. chip — to eat
  4. band — a ring
  5. cold — not warm
  6. band — a music group
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. chest — a box
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — newspapers
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — thin
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. chip — for betting
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — to push
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pass — a permit

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