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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rule — a law
  3. press — a publisher
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. mate — a friend
  6. press — to push
  7. swing — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rule — government
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. row — to paddle
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — a video
  15. date — the fruit
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a line
  20. swing — in golf
  21. press — newspapers
  22. swing — to play on
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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