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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 120 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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a committee
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. net — in sport
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. scale — in music
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. band — a music group
  17. press — newspapers
  18. mate — a partner
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. press — a publisher
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a friend
  23. rush — hurry
  24. press — to push

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