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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ball — a great time
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — for paper
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. press — a publisher
  8. clip — a video
  9. shower — rain
  10. hand — help
  11. rule — a law
  12. press — newspapers
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. ball — a dance
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. shower — to wash
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. press — to push
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — in cards
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. rule — government

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