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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mate — a friend
  7. lie — to recline
  8. fall — to drop
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mate — a partner
  17. fall — to drop
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. press — newspapers
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — for paper
  22. press — to push
  23. mate — to breed
  24. perch — the fish

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