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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a music group
  4. press — to push
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fine — all right
  7. press — a publisher
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. press — newspapers
  13. race — a contest
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. content — the amount
  16. clip — for paper
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. band — a ring
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. fine — high quality
  21. clip — a video
  22. prune — to trim
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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