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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. clip — a video
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. press — a publisher
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — moving air
  9. degree — from a university
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. root — of a plant
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. root — of a word
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — for paper
  18. degree — temperature
  19. root — the cause
  20. band — a ring
  21. clip — to cut
  22. band — a music group
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. press — newspapers

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