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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. root — the cause
  7. kick — in football
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. press — to push
  10. root — of a word
  11. press — a publisher
  12. squash — to crush
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. perch — the fish
  16. clip — for paper
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. root — of a plant
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — of the year
  21. squash — the sport
  22. press — newspapers
  23. clip — a video
  24. perch — for a bird

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