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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: kid · band · chest · bear · season · stand · press · clip

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. stand — to bear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. press — newspapers
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. clip — a video
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bear — the animal
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. chest — a box
  15. press — to push
  16. season — in sport
  17. press — a publisher
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bear — the animal
  21. kid — child
  22. band — a music group
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kid — to tease

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