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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: coach · wake · clip · field · race · roll · press · squash

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wake — a trail
  4. roll — a list
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — for sport
  7. roll — a cake
  8. race — a contest
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. press — to push
  12. race — humankind
  13. clip — to cut
  14. press — newspapers
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. field — farmland
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. race — the arms race
  19. squash — to crush
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. squash — the sport
  22. press — a publisher
  23. field — a subject
  24. squash — the vegetable

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