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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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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: bark · press · patient · kid · chair · wave · prune · clip

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bark — to shout
  5. prune — to trim
  6. press — to push
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. kid — child
  20. chair — a leader
  21. kid — to tease
  22. clip — a video
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bark — of a tree

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