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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · chest · club · bear · band · wave

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a music group
  6. chest — of your body
  7. club — for golf
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. press — to push
  13. club — for dancing
  14. chest — a box
  15. club — a group
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — a publisher

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