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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. swing — music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. tube — a container
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — to push
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. band — a music group
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. press — newspapers
  12. bat — the animal
  13. swing — to play on
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. tube — the underground
  20. perch — the fish
  21. band — a ring
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. band — a rubber band

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