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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. last — finally
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. mate — a partner
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. press — to push
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mate — to breed
  14. last — final
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mate — a friend
  19. tear — to rip
  20. last — to go on
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. clip — to cut
  24. press — a publisher

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