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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 · firm · squash · land · file · club · clip · lean

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. press — to push
  2. land — a country
  3. club — for golf
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. land — ground
  6. squash — to crush
  7. lean — thin
  8. file — a line of people
  9. clip — for paper
  10. club — for dancing
  11. press — newspapers
  12. lean — to bend
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. firm — steady
  16. firm — a company
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. club — a group
  19. firm — decided
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. land — to come down
  23. squash — the sport
  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