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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: swing · clip · mine · pop · land · plane · press · fall

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. press — newspapers
  5. clip — to cut
  6. swing — music
  7. clip — a video
  8. land — a country
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pop — to visit
  12. fall — the season
  13. pop — soda
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. pop — music
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mine — for digging
  22. clip — for paper
  23. plane — a tool
  24. mine — an explosive

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