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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 120 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: rest · bowl · shower · cell · arm · chest · fork · press

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cell — a phone
  6. press — a publisher
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. press — to push
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rest — a break
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chest — of your body
  15. press — newspapers
  16. rest — what's left
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. shower — rain
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cell — in biology
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bowl — a football final

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