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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: fan · fork · chest · scale · mark · press · race · cell

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. race — humankind
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cell — in biology
  9. mark — a trace
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mark — a grade
  13. chest — a box
  14. race — the arms race
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. scale — size or range
  19. race — a contest
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. chest — of your body
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. scale — in 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