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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rush — hurry
  4. shower — rain
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. press — a publisher
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. press — to push
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — the animal
  19. spell — magic
  20. capital — money
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bulb — for light
  23. press — newspapers
  24. capital — a big letter

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