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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. last — to go on
  3. clip — to cut
  4. press — a publisher
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — a video
  7. hand — in cards
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. ball — a great time
  10. last — final
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. press — newspapers
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. drill — the tool
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. last — finally
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — in football
  19. drill — army training
  20. ball — a dance
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. hand — help
  24. drill — a practice

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