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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.

Make a worksheet

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: squash · wind · chest · mine · tube · mate · press · bowl

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. press — to push
  3. tube — a container
  4. press — a publisher
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tube — the underground
  14. chest — a box
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mate — to breed
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wind — moving air
  24. press — newspapers

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