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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. stand — to bear
  5. spell — a short time
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. press — a publisher
  9. lean — to bend
  10. press — newspapers
  11. charge — electricity
  12. clip — a video
  13. charge — a price
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spell — letters
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. spell — magic
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. hand — in cards
  23. charge — in control
  24. stand — on your feet

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