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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. staff — employees
  2. press — a publisher
  3. pound — a weight
  4. band — a ring
  5. wake — a trail
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. field — a subject
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. press — newspapers
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. press — to push
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. snap — to click
  22. band — a music group
  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