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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — newspapers
  4. rest — what's left
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. rest — a break
  8. press — to push
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a ring
  11. wound — an injury
  12. club — for dancing
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. rest — what's left
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — a group

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