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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. dip — to sink
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lean — thin
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. press — a publisher
  10. swing — in golf
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. press — to push
  14. band — a music group
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. press — newspapers
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. swing — to play on
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. swing — music

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