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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. cap — of ice
  3. field — for sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wound — an injury
  7. press — a publisher
  8. field — a subject
  9. present — there
  10. club — for dancing
  11. clip — a video
  12. club — for golf
  13. press — newspapers
  14. present — a gift
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pass — a permit
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. field — farmland
  20. cap — a hat
  21. clip — to cut
  22. present — the time now
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. club — a group

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