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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — after costs
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a tool
  8. press — to push
  9. clip — to cut
  10. sharp — clever
  11. press — newspapers
  12. file — a line of people
  13. fall — the season
  14. board — to get on
  15. kick — in football
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. net — in sport
  18. clip — a video
  19. net — for catching
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. board — a committee
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. press — a publisher
  24. file — a document

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