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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. plane — a tool
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. clip — a video
  7. bass — low music
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. clip — for paper
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. press — newspapers
  13. race — humankind
  14. bass — the fish
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. clip — to cut
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. press — to push
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cold — the Cold War

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