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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. press — a publisher
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. press — newspapers
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. wound — an injury
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. clip — a video
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rush — hurry
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — to cut
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. file — a document
  23. clip — for paper
  24. file — a tool

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