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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 · can · cabinet · row · kid · staff · wind · clip

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. can — a tin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kid — to tease
  5. staff — employees
  6. row — a line
  7. press — to push
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. wind — moving air
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — to be able to
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. kid — child
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. clip — for paper
  19. press — newspapers
  20. clip — a video
  21. press — a publisher
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wind — to turn a key

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