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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. last — final
  3. band — a ring
  4. press — to push
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. squash — the sport
  7. band — a music group
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — to crush
  16. last — finally
  17. press — newspapers
  18. branch — a division
  19. pound — a weight
  20. last — to go on
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. band — a rubber band

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