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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. rule — a law
  3. press — a publisher
  4. club — for dancing
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. press — newspapers
  7. net — for catching
  8. degree — temperature
  9. net — after costs
  10. clip — a video
  11. club — for golf
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. degree — an amount
  14. net — in sport
  15. club — a group
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rule — government
  19. degree — from a university
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. press — to push
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  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