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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. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. cold — an illness
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. band — a ring
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. press — to push
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. band — a music group
  14. bank — for money
  15. degree — an amount
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — of a river
  23. net — for catching
  24. kid — child

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