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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: temple · coach · pound · object · rush · clip · press · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — for paper
  4. object — a thing
  5. clip — a video
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. object — to protest
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. object — an aim
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rush — hurry
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. press — to push
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. press — newspapers
  21. clip — to cut
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. press — a publisher
  24. rush — to hurry

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