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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. net — in sport
  3. clip — to cut
  4. game — a match
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — newspapers
  7. press — to push
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a music group
  10. suit — clothes
  11. wind — moving air
  12. net — after costs
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pop — to visit
  15. suit — to fit
  16. net — for catching
  17. pop — soda
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. band — a ring
  20. clip — a video
  21. wind — moving air
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pop — music

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