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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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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: coach · file · face · temple · press · last · hand · clip

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. clip — for paper
  3. last — to go on
  4. face — part of the head
  5. hand — in cards
  6. last — finally
  7. clip — a video
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. hand — help
  13. last — final
  14. file — a tool
  15. face — to point toward
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. file — a document
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. face — to confront
  20. press — newspapers
  21. file — a line of people
  22. clip — to cut
  23. press — a publisher
  24. hand — part of the 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