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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — to tease
  3. press — to push
  4. kid — child
  5. bore — to drill
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. press — a publisher
  15. bore — to tire
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bowl — a football final

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