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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. press — to push
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. tear — from crying
  5. press — a publisher
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — to cut
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — for paper
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. court — for sport
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. clip — a video
  17. mark — a trace
  18. perch — the fish
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. press — newspapers
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mark — a grade
  24. tear — from crying

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