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

Word bank: rest · clip · hide · scale · mate · snap · wave · press

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. press — to push
  7. mate — a partner
  8. rest — what's left
  9. scale — in music
  10. press — newspapers
  11. clip — to cut
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. snap — to click
  16. press — a publisher
  17. mate — a friend
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — for paper
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. scale — size or range
  24. wave — with your hand

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