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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. lean — thin
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. clip — a video
  6. press — a publisher
  7. file — a tool
  8. chest — a box
  9. court — for sport
  10. pound — a weight
  11. clip — to cut
  12. press — newspapers
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. press — to push
  20. court — of a king
  21. degree — from a university
  22. court — of law
  23. lean — to bend
  24. degree — temperature

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