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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: rock · bat · cell · chest · press · nail · hand · pop

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rock — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. chest — a box
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. press — a publisher
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hand — help
  12. cell — in biology
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — to push
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pop — soda
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. press — newspapers
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. pop — music
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. hand — in cards

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