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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. press — to push
  3. object — a thing
  4. content — happy
  5. object — an aim
  6. press — a publisher
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — to tease
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pit — in a race
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. press — newspapers
  13. band — a ring
  14. content — the amount
  15. file — a document
  16. object — to protest
  17. pit — a hole
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. file — a line of people
  24. coach — a trainer

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