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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: present · clip · squash · press · hide · chest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. press — to push
  3. chest — a box
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. press — a publisher
  6. chest — of your body
  7. present — there
  8. clip — a video
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — to crush
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chest — of your body
  14. present — the time now
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. press — newspapers
  17. present — a gift
  18. squash — the vegetable

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