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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: temple · hand · safe · chest · bark · press · wind · chair

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. press — to push
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. hand — help
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. press — a publisher
  14. chest — of your body
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. hand — in cards
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. chair — a leader
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. wind — moving air
  21. press — newspapers
  22. chest — a box
  23. bark — to shout
  24. chest — of your body

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