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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bark — to shout
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. shower — rain
  13. stock — shares
  14. fine — high quality
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. stock — goods
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fine — all right
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. shower — to wash

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