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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. roll — a cake
  4. press — to push
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. clip — for paper
  8. press — a publisher
  9. clip — a video
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a signal
  14. roll — a list
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. face — part of the head
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. face — to confront
  22. clip — to cut
  23. face — to point toward
  24. press — newspapers

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