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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 116 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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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: pass · press · face · cold · tear · clip · bat · present

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. press — a publisher
  3. cold — an illness
  4. present — the time now
  5. press — to push
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — from crying
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. face — part of the head
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. tear — from crying
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pass — a permit
  21. face — to confront
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. tear — to rip
  24. face — to point toward

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