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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: bowl · row · tube · kid · march · press · rush · clip

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rush — hurry
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. press — newspapers
  14. kid — child
  15. clip — for paper
  16. press — to push
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. row — a line
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. press — a publisher
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. tube — the underground

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