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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: press · clip · wound · row · rush · squash · branch · capital

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. press — newspapers
  4. capital — money
  5. clip — a video
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wound — an injury
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. press — to push
  12. capital — a city
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. squash — to crush
  16. rush — hurry
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. row — to paddle
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. clip — for paper
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. row — a line
  24. press — a publisher

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