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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bat — the animal
  7. press — newspapers
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — clever
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. can — a tin
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. can — to be able to
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. can — a tin
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wave — of the sea

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