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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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468
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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rule — a law
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. swing — in golf
  5. press — a publisher
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cell — a phone
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. cell — in biology
  15. press — newspapers
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. rule — government
  23. swing — music
  24. clip — a video

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