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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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: chair · wind · content · band · last · press

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. press — to push
  3. last — to go on
  4. content — the amount
  5. last — finally
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. press — a publisher
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. content — happy
  13. last — final
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chair — a leader
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a ring
  18. press — newspapers

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