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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. press — to push
  3. board — a committee
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mine — for digging
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — a trail
  9. capital — money
  10. clip — for paper
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — a video
  13. bound — certain
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. board — to get on
  17. bound — tied together
  18. press — newspapers
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bound — obliged
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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