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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. branch — a division
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. spell — magic
  6. press — to push
  7. spell — a short time
  8. charge — electricity
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. charge — a price
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — an illness
  15. charge — in control
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. spell — letters
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. clip — a video
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — a publisher

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