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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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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: press · fine · squash · branch · clip · craft · spell · row

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — all right
  3. squash — to crush
  4. press — to push
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. press — newspapers
  7. clip — a video
  8. craft — boats
  9. press — a publisher
  10. branch — a division
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — a skill
  13. squash — the sport
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. row — a line
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spell — magic
  22. fine — high quality
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. row — to paddle

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