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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bore — to tire
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. clip — for paper
  5. track — a song
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wound — an injury
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. wax — to grow
  13. fall — the season
  14. bore — to drill
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. press — a publisher
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — a video
  24. press — newspapers

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