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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. press — newspapers
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. swing — in golf
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. swing — music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. swing — to play on
  15. press — a publisher
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. shower — rain
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bear — the animal

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