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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 116 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. press — to push
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — for golf
  5. cap — a hat
  6. game — wild animals
  7. press — a publisher
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. press — newspapers
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. club — a group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cap — a lid
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cap — of ice
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — a match
  21. band — a ring
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. chair — a leader
  24. straw — a straw man

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