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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — to come down
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spring — of water
  9. band — a music group
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. press — a publisher
  12. land — ground
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. band — a ring
  15. land — a country
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. press — newspapers
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bark — to shout
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. press — to push
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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