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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. band — a music group
  3. mate — to breed
  4. field — a subject
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. mate — a friend
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fork — in a road
  14. press — a publisher
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. field — for sport
  17. press — newspapers
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. mate — a partner
  21. field — farmland
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. ruler — for measuring

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