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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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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: chest · file · fall · press · bowl · row · prune · coach

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — to push
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. file — a tool
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. fall — to drop
  15. file — a line of people
  16. prune — to trim
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. fall — the season
  20. chest — a box
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. file — a document
  23. row — a line
  24. press — newspapers

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