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

Word bank: band · kid · pound · hide · wake · press

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pound — a weight
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. press — a publisher
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. band — a ring
  12. press — to push
  13. band — a music group
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wake — a trail

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