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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cell — in biology
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. press — newspapers
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — the animal
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cell — a phone
  13. craft — a skill
  14. press — a publisher
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. craft — boats
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. ball — a great time

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