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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. clip — a video
  4. firm — steady
  5. spring — a coil
  6. press — a publisher
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chair — a leader
  14. press — newspapers
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spring — of water
  18. press — to push
  19. saw — the tool
  20. hand — in cards
  21. saw — the tool
  22. firm — a company
  23. clip — to cut
  24. firm — decided

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