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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. last — finally
  4. band — a ring
  5. press — newspapers
  6. last — to go on
  7. pound — a weight
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. clip — a video
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — in cards
  14. last — final
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. band — a music group
  18. press — to push
  19. cell — in biology
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. press — a publisher
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. hand — part of the body

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