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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. band — a ring
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rule — government
  5. press — newspapers
  6. rule — a law
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — not warm
  9. craft — a skill
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. press — a publisher
  15. cell — a phone
  16. band — a music group
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. cell — in a prison

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