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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mark — a grade
  4. drill — a practice
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — a video
  7. pop — soda
  8. mark — a trace
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — to visit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. press — newspapers
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. drill — the tool
  18. press — to push
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. drill — army training
  22. content — the amount
  23. pop — music
  24. clip — to cut

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