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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. season — of the year
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. race — a contest
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. sharp — clever
  12. band — a ring
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wound — an injury
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. press — a publisher
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. race — the arms race
  21. season — in sport
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. race — humankind
  24. bowl — to roll

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