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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. mark — a trace
  3. clip — to cut
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bass — low music
  6. row — a line
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. press — a publisher
  10. row — to paddle
  11. press — newspapers
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. clip — a video
  15. kid — child
  16. spell — letters
  17. mark — a grade
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. kid — to tease
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. spell — magic
  24. bass — the fish

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