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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mug — a face
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. rest — what's left
  8. press — a publisher
  9. mug — a cup
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mug — to rob
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — to push
  21. wax — to grow
  22. lean — thin
  23. lean — to bend
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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