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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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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 · cell · kick · ball · tear · press · stand · chest

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. chest — a box
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. rock — music
  9. press — to push
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. press — a publisher
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kick — in football
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ball — a great time
  22. rock — a stone
  23. ball — a dance
  24. kick — a thrill

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