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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — hasty
  4. band — a music group
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. press — to push
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bore — to tire
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fall — the season
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a ring
  17. bore — to drill
  18. press — a publisher
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. press — newspapers
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mine — for digging
  23. fall — to drop
  24. branch — of a bank

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