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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 120 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: fan · press · march · clip · club · spring · saw · lie

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. march — the month
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. press — a publisher
  10. clip — for paper
  11. press — newspapers
  12. spring — of water
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — the month
  15. club — for dancing
  16. saw — the tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. spring — the season
  23. march — music
  24. press — to push

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