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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. press — newspapers
  6. can — a tin
  7. mine — for digging
  8. court — of law
  9. clip — a video
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. can — to be able to
  12. chest — a box
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — for sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. lean — thin
  18. fork — in a road
  19. press — to push
  20. can — a tin
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. court — of a king
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. lean — to bend

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