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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 120 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — a hint
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — moving air
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — rain
  10. cue — for pool
  11. swing — in golf
  12. season — in sport
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. swing — to play on
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wind — moving air
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. clip — for paper
  22. season — of the year
  23. press — a publisher
  24. swing — music

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