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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. press — a publisher
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. press — to push
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. clip — for paper
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. press — newspapers
  21. deal — to handle
  22. toast — bread
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rest — a break

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