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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 · bass · kid · saw · perch · mate · drill · safe

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. mate — a friend
  3. drill — a practice
  4. mate — a partner
  5. press — a publisher
  6. bass — the fish
  7. kid — child
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kid — to tease
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mate — to breed
  14. saw — the tool
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — army training
  17. perch — the fish
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — the tool
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bass — low music

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