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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 116 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: clip · band · mug · cold · race · press · chair · ruler

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. band — a music group
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mug — a face
  5. band — a ring
  6. mug — a cup
  7. cold — not warm
  8. press — newspapers
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. race — a contest
  11. press — to push
  12. race — humankind
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mug — to rob
  15. clip — a video
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. press — a publisher

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