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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cue — a hint
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fall — to drop
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fall — the season
  13. cue — for pool
  14. press — a publisher
  15. press — newspapers
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. cue — a signal
  20. row — a line
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — a video
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bore — to tire

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