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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: current · chest · face · clip · prune · rash · bass · press

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. press — to push
  3. current — happening now
  4. face — part of the head
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. rash — a series
  8. current — electric
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. clip — for paper
  12. current — of water
  13. chest — a box
  14. press — a publisher
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rash — hasty
  17. chest — of your body
  18. press — newspapers
  19. face — to point toward
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. prune — to trim
  23. face — to confront
  24. bass — low music

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