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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 116 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. field — for sport
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a ring
  5. swing — music
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. press — to push
  8. degree — an amount
  9. swing — to play on
  10. field — farmland
  11. staff — employees
  12. press — a publisher
  13. field — a subject
  14. kick — in football
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. degree — temperature
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. swing — in golf
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. staff — employees
  24. kick — a thrill

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