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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. sharp — clever
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. press — a publisher
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. chip — to eat
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. clip — a video
  9. press — to push
  10. clip — for paper
  11. field — for sport
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. field — farmland
  15. press — newspapers
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. capital — a city
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. field — a subject
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. clip — to cut
  23. capital — money
  24. chip — for betting

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