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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: press · cold · craft · ground · band · fine · firm · tube

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. tube — the underground
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — boats
  6. ground — a position
  7. cold — an illness
  8. band — a ring
  9. press — to push
  10. fine — high quality
  11. firm — steady
  12. tube — a container
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — all right
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. craft — a skill
  19. band — a music group
  20. firm — decided
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — not warm
  23. press — a publisher
  24. ground — crushed

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