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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. press — to push
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rest — what's left
  6. clip — to cut
  7. file — a tool
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. clip — for paper
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. row — to paddle
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. press — a publisher
  16. file — a line of people
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — a video
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. tear — to rip
  22. file — a document
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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