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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — wild animals
  3. clip — for paper
  4. content — the amount
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — a video
  7. press — a publisher
  8. race — the arms race
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. press — newspapers
  13. clip — to cut
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. race — humankind
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — to push
  22. race — a contest
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. game — a match

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