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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. press — a publisher
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. date — the fruit
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. press — newspapers
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. press — to push
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — for paper
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — on the calendar

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