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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 120 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: rest · press · kid · deal · clip · club · spell · calf

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. kid — child
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. press — newspapers
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spell — letters
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. spell — magic
  14. club — for golf
  15. clip — for paper
  16. club — a group
  17. clip — a video
  18. spell — a short time
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. deal — to handle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. press — a publisher
  24. club — for dancing

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