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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. press — to push
  3. chest — of your body
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. band — a music group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. band — a ring
  10. bear — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rash — a series
  13. club — for golf
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. club — a group
  16. bear — the animal
  17. press — newspapers
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. chest — a box
  20. rash — hasty
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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