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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · mate · bowl · rock · press · clip

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. press — to push
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. mate — to breed
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. press — a publisher
  8. kid — child
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mate — a partner
  11. rock — a stone
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — a video

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