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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: press · straw · wave · fall · clip · bank · game · patient

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. game — a match
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. press — to push
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bank — of a river
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. press — a publisher
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. press — newspapers
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — a video
  19. bank — for money
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bank — for money

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