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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. net — after costs
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bound — obliged
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cold — an illness
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. press — newspapers
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bound — tied together
  13. capital — money
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. press — a publisher
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — for catching
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — a city
  22. bound — certain
  23. cell — in biology
  24. net — in sport

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