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

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cold — not warm
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. tube — a container
  8. rush — hurry
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. dip — to sink
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. swing — to play on
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. tube — the underground
  18. clip — to cut
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. clip — a video

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