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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: press · rash · chest · ground · perch · bay · face · cell

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. face — to confront
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. press — newspapers
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. press — to push
  10. chest — a box
  11. perch — the fish
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. press — a publisher
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — part of the head
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. ground — the earth
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. ground — a position
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. chest — of your body
  24. perch — for a bird

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