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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. press — a publisher
  3. cell — in biology
  4. press — to push
  5. content — happy
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. perch — the fish
  8. prune — to trim
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mate — to breed
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mate — a partner
  21. roll — a cake
  22. roll — a list
  23. cell — a phone
  24. content — the amount

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