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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — the animal
  4. track — a path
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. track — a song
  7. cell — in biology
  8. press — to push
  9. stem — to come from
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. season — of the year
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — of your body
  14. track — to keep track
  15. season — in sport
  16. press — newspapers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. band — a ring
  19. cell — a phone
  20. band — a music group
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. press — a publisher
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. bat — in an idiom

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