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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: drill · roll · press · coach · jam · clip · wave · march

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. roll — a list
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. press — to push
  5. drill — army training
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. clip — to cut
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. press — newspapers
  11. clip — for paper
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. clip — a video
  14. drill — a practice
  15. roll — a cake
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. march — music
  23. press — a publisher
  24. drill — the tool

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