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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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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: press · clip · band · chair · present · club · net · bark

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. present — there
  3. net — for catching
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. band — a music group
  6. club — a group
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bark — to shout
  9. press — newspapers
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. club — for golf
  12. present — the time now
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. clip — to cut
  15. net — in sport
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chair — a leader
  19. press — to push
  20. press — a publisher
  21. net — after costs
  22. present — a gift
  23. clip — a video
  24. club — for dancing

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