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

Word bank: press · snap · band · cell · straw · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hand — help
  3. cell — a phone
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — newspapers
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. snap — to click
  9. cell — in biology
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. press — to push
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. band — a ring
  16. hand — in cards
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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