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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. band — a ring
  4. press — a publisher
  5. tube — the underground
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. press — newspapers
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. press — to push
  13. cold — not warm
  14. ground — the earth
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. tube — a container
  17. prune — to trim
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. ground — crushed
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. ground — a position
  23. cold — an illness
  24. prune — the fruit

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