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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. hand — in cards
  11. snap — to click
  12. content — the amount
  13. press — to push
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — a phone
  16. press — a publisher
  17. kid — child
  18. hand — help
  19. content — happy
  20. bass — low music
  21. chip — to eat
  22. bass — the fish
  23. chip — for betting
  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