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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 120 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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. band — a ring
  5. press — to push
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — for paper
  10. press — newspapers
  11. drill — the tool
  12. rock — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a music group
  17. clip — a video
  18. press — a publisher
  19. tube — a container
  20. degree — an amount
  21. drill — a practice
  22. rock — a stone
  23. drill — army training
  24. tube — in a tire

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