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

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. fall — the season
  3. band — a music group
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. clip — to cut
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — a phone
  9. press — a publisher
  10. cell — in biology
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — to push
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stand — to bear
  17. fall — to drop
  18. row — to paddle
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. band — a ring
  23. clip — a video
  24. stand — on your feet

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