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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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468
Word bank
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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 am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. clip — a video
  3. staff — employees
  4. cell — a phone
  5. field — a subject
  6. hand — help
  7. press — a publisher
  8. cap — of ice
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. clip — to cut
  11. staff — employees
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — in biology
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. press — newspapers
  17. cap — a hat
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. hand — in cards
  20. press — to push
  21. staff — a stick
  22. field — for sport
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cap — a lid

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