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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 116 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. present — the time now
  3. file — a tool
  4. present — there
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. scale — in music
  7. clip — a video
  8. present — a gift
  9. file — a document
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. press — to push
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rash — hasty
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. clip — to cut
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. file — a line of people
  21. press — newspapers
  22. scale — size or range
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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