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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mark — a grade
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. press — a publisher
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. spring — of water
  13. file — a tool
  14. game — a match
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mark — a trace
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. press — to push
  20. clip — a video
  21. press — newspapers
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to click
  24. craft — boats

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