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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. face — to point toward
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a ring
  5. march — the month
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. march — music
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. press — a publisher
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. press — to push
  14. band — a music group
  15. rush — hurry
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. scale — in music
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. press — newspapers
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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