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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cell — a phone
  5. last — to go on
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. last — final
  9. wake — a trail
  10. rash — hasty
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. last — finally
  13. press — newspapers
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. cell — in biology
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. press — to push
  21. rash — a series
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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