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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  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. tear — from crying
  2. press — a publisher
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tear — from crying
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — in music
  7. kid — child
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. tear — to rip
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. press — to push
  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