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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. press — to push
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pop — soda
  6. band — a music group
  7. land — a country
  8. last — final
  9. pop — music
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. land — ground
  12. last — finally
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pop — to visit
  18. press — a publisher
  19. fall — to drop
  20. press — newspapers
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. lean — thin
  23. land — to come down
  24. last — to go on

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