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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. press — to push
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cue — for pool
  7. band — a ring
  8. hand — in cards
  9. row — to paddle
  10. band — a music group
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cue — a signal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cell — in biology
  17. press — a publisher
  18. hand — help
  19. row — a line
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. hand — part of the body

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