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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 ________________ the button?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. last — to go on
  3. stand — to bear
  4. swing — in golf
  5. swing — to play on
  6. hand — help
  7. rush — hurry
  8. hand — in cards
  9. swing — music
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. last — final
  13. band — a music group
  14. last — finally
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. press — a publisher
  19. band — a ring
  20. press — newspapers
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rush — a thrill

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