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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. clip — for paper
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. clip — a video
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a document
  9. present — there
  10. wound — an injury
  11. firm — a company
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a tool
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mate — to breed
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. present — the time now
  19. firm — steady
  20. press — newspapers
  21. firm — decided
  22. mate — a partner
  23. present — a gift
  24. clip — to cut

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