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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: lean · rock · cap · cell · content · bat · chest · press

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. lean — thin
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — a stone
  9. lean — to bend
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rock — music
  15. press — newspapers
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. press — to push
  22. cell — in biology
  23. content — the amount
  24. chest — a box

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