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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 get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. press — to push
  7. mate — a partner
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mate — to breed
  11. wind — moving air
  12. present — the time now
  13. capital — a city
  14. present — there
  15. capital — money
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. press — a publisher
  19. band — a music group
  20. press — newspapers
  21. mate — a friend
  22. swing — music
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. capital — a big letter

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