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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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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: hand · suit · press · band · degree · clip · rest · stand

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. press — a publisher
  3. band — a ring
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rest — a break
  6. suit — in cards
  7. degree — an amount
  8. suit — to fit
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stand — to bear
  11. degree — temperature
  12. clip — a video
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. rest — what's left
  15. hand — in cards
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. hand — help
  18. press — to push
  19. rest — what's left
  20. band — a music group
  21. suit — clothes
  22. press — newspapers
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stand — on your feet

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