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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: band · bulb · clip · press · snap · field · face · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. face — to confront
  4. snap — to click
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. race — humankind
  7. clip — a video
  8. press — a publisher
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. field — farmland
  11. bulb — for light
  12. press — newspapers
  13. clip — for paper
  14. face — to point toward
  15. race — the arms race
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — a subject
  18. band — a ring
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bulb — for light
  21. press — to push
  22. band — a music group
  23. clip — to cut
  24. field — for sport

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