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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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Word bank
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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. press — to push
  3. clip — a video
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chest — a box
  6. spell — magic
  7. last — final
  8. chest — of your body
  9. last — to go on
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — a publisher
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. last — finally
  16. press — newspapers
  17. pass — a permit
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. squash — the sport
  21. spell — letters
  22. squash — to crush
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — not warm

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