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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: clip · fall · lash · pop · press · drill · cold · patient

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. fall — the season
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cold — not warm
  5. press — newspapers
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. fall — to drop
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — a video
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — to push
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  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