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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: press · wind · bat · clip · fork · hand · perch · object

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. clip — a video
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — to push
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. wind — moving air
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. clip — to cut
  15. object — an aim
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. object — to protest
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hand — in cards
  24. object — a thing

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