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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: kick · press · pass · file · stock · bat · cold · chest

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. file — a tool
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. press — newspapers
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. press — a publisher
  12. chest — a box
  13. press — to push
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stock — goods
  19. pass — a permit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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