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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 · wind · kick · clip · temple · wake · fall · stock

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stock — goods
  4. fall — the season
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stock — shares
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. press — newspapers
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — a video
  17. fall — to drop
  18. press — a publisher
  19. press — to push
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kick — in football

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