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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: cell · mate · squash · bore · tear · press · clip · court

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bore — to drill
  3. press — to push
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mate — a friend
  6. press — newspapers
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — of a king
  10. cell — in biology
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of law
  14. press — a publisher
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mate — to breed
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bore — to tire
  22. court — for sport
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bore — gave birth

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