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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. branch — a division
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. cap — a lid
  6. squash — the sport
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — a list
  10. cap — of ice
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. squash — to crush
  13. press — newspapers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — a publisher
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — to push
  18. clip — for paper
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. court — of law
  21. lean — to bend
  22. court — of a king
  23. lean — thin
  24. court — for sport

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