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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: kid · clip · press · spell · wake · shower · rule · saw

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rule — government
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spell — magic
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — a law
  7. saw — the tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. press — newspapers
  12. shower — rain
  13. kid — child
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spell — letters
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spell — a short time
  19. press — a publisher
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. press — to push
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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