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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mate — a friend
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — a video
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wax — to grow
  12. press — a publisher
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cold — an illness
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kick — in football
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pound — a weight
  19. mate — a partner
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mate — to breed

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