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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: mate · clip · straw · mark · bore · saw · press · kid

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. kid — child
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bore — to drill
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. press — a publisher
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. kid — to tease
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. clip — for paper
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. clip — a video
  15. mate — a partner
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mate — to breed
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bore — to tire
  21. mate — a friend
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mark — a grade
  24. straw — dry grass

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