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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: swing · press · band · kick · game · land · pit · temple

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. band — a ring
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. press — to push
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pit — a hole
  11. game — wild animals
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. kick — in football
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. land — ground
  19. swing — in golf
  20. game — a match
  21. swing — music
  22. band — a music group
  23. press — newspapers
  24. swing — to play on

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