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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: toast · lean · straw · clip · kick · season · press · last

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. clip — for paper
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. lean — to bend
  7. season — of the year
  8. lean — thin
  9. press — to push
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. clip — to cut
  13. last — to go on
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. last — finally
  17. press — a publisher
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. kick — in football
  24. season — in sport

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