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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: fan · pop · wake · chest · bat · press · rush · land

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. press — a publisher
  3. rush — hurry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. press — to push
  6. land — to come down
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. land — a country
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. chest — a box
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pop — soda
  19. land — ground
  20. pop — music
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. bat — in an idiom

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