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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. cap — a lid
  3. net — after costs
  4. hand — help
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cold — not warm
  11. net — in sport
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — to push
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mark — a trace
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. clip — for paper
  19. net — for catching
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. cap — a hat
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. press — a publisher
  24. foot — a measure

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