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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chest — of your body
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. branch — a division
  9. band — a ring
  10. pit — in a race
  11. chest — of your body
  12. tear — to rip
  13. press — a publisher
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. chest — a box
  16. press — newspapers
  17. band — a music group
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. pit — a hole
  20. press — to push
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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