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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. press — a publisher
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. roll — a cake
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. press — newspapers
  17. game — wild animals
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chest — of your body
  20. press — to push
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. bark — to shout
  24. game — a match

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