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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. wind — moving air
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. press — a publisher
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. press — to push
  21. press — newspapers
  22. clip — a video
  23. date — the fruit
  24. stem — of a plant

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