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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. ball — a great time
  4. press — a publisher
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pop — to visit
  7. hand — in cards
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ball — a dance
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. pop — soda
  12. mine — for digging
  13. press — to push
  14. hand — help
  15. kid — to tease
  16. clip — a video
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pop — music
  21. kick — in football
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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