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

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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 — a publisher
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — a video
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. shower — to wash
  9. press — to push
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. drill — the tool
  12. wound — an injury
  13. shower — rain
  14. drill — army training
  15. clip — for paper
  16. dip — to sink
  17. clip — to cut
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. press — newspapers
  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