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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: track · row · press · tear · straw · staff · bowl · clip

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. track — a path
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. press — a publisher
  5. clip — to cut
  6. press — to push
  7. track — a song
  8. staff — employees
  9. press — newspapers
  10. row — a line
  11. track — to keep track
  12. staff — employees
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. tear — to rip
  17. staff — a stick
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bowl — a football final

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