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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: scale · stem · patient · bowl · press · chest · cold · tube

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. scale — in music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chest — of your body
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. press — to push
  10. scale — size or range
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — a container
  17. stem — to come from
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. chest — a box
  24. stem — a stem cell

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