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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. press — to push
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. snap — to click
  7. press — newspapers
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. face — to confront
  11. game — wild animals
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. capital — money
  15. face — to point toward
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. press — a publisher
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. game — a match
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. capital — a city
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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