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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: band · foot · file · wound · fork · press · bulb · kid

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. press — to push
  8. bulb — for light
  9. file — a tool
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fork — in a road
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — a measure
  14. band — a music group
  15. file — a document
  16. kid — child
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. band — a ring
  24. press — newspapers

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