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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: track · chest · season · bark · press · bat · lie · foot

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. season — in sport
  4. track — to keep track
  5. lie — to recline
  6. foot — a measure
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bark — to shout
  9. season — of the year
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bat — the animal
  13. press — a publisher
  14. chest — a box
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. track — a path
  17. chest — of your body
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. track — a song

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