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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 120 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: bore · press · bass · land · mine · season · snap · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. land — ground
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a music group
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bore — to drill
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. press — to push
  19. land — a country
  20. season — of the year
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. press — newspapers
  23. land — to come down
  24. band — a rubber band

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