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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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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 · bowl · perch · clip · chip · capital · cold · squash

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. squash — to crush
  3. clip — for paper
  4. press — to push
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. capital — money
  7. press — a publisher
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — a video
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. squash — the sport
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — an illness
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. chip — for betting
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. bowl — to roll

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