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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · press · squash · present · hide · cabinet · degree · clip

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — from a university
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. clip — to cut
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — to push
  11. squash — to crush
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — the month
  14. present — there
  15. press — newspapers
  16. present — a gift
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. march — music
  19. clip — a video
  20. present — the time now
  21. degree — an amount
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cabinet — ministers

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