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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: wake · clip · tear · press · spell · date · swing · bat

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — a trail
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — in golf
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. clip — to cut
  16. press — newspapers
  17. swing — music
  18. spell — magic
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. swing — to play on
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — letters
  23. press — to push
  24. bat — the animal

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