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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: race · drill · press · present · clip · pop · pitch · tear

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. press — to push
  3. drill — the tool
  4. race — the arms race
  5. pop — to visit
  6. present — there
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — newspapers
  11. pitch — completely
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. race — a contest
  15. drill — army training
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — a video
  18. pop — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. drill — a practice
  22. present — a gift
  23. race — humankind
  24. pop — soda

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