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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 · march · current · staff · swing · squash · hand · cell

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. march — music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. press — to push
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. current — of water
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. press — newspapers
  11. squash — the sport
  12. hand — help
  13. staff — employees
  14. swing — in golf
  15. current — happening now
  16. swing — to play on
  17. current — electric
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cell — in biology
  20. squash — to crush
  21. swing — music
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cell — a phone
  24. staff — a stick

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