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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — farmland
  3. clip — for paper
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wound — an injury
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — newspapers
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. band — a music group
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. vault — a safe
  15. band — a ring
  16. press — to push
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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