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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 120 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: season · mate · cold · press · bank · clip · tear · mug

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mate — to breed
  3. cold — not warm
  4. press — newspapers
  5. season — of the year
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mug — to rob
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — a friend
  10. tear — from crying
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — to push
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bank — for money
  19. mug — a face
  20. season — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — a publisher
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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