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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: firm · rest · scale · press · band · tear · cell · ground

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. ground — crushed
  3. press — to push
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. firm — decided
  8. firm — steady
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. band — a music group
  11. rest — a break
  12. tear — to rip
  13. scale — in music
  14. ground — the earth
  15. press — a publisher
  16. ground — a position
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cell — a phone
  22. tear — from crying
  23. band — a ring
  24. cell — in biology

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