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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rest — what's left
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. club — a group
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. press — newspapers
  11. file — a line of people
  12. press — a publisher
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. rest — a break
  17. file — a tool
  18. press — to push
  19. band — a music group
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. band — a ring
  22. club — for golf
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — what's left

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