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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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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: press · band · rest · current · game · shower · pitch · bark

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. band — a music group
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. current — of water
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. current — electric
  9. current — happening now
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. press — newspapers
  13. band — a ring
  14. press — a publisher
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. rest — what's left
  19. pitch — completely
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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