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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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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. shower — to wash
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. capital — a city
  5. clip — for paper
  6. capital — money
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wind — moving air
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. pop — music
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. shower — rain
  14. press — to push
  15. press — a publisher
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pop — to visit
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. press — newspapers
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. clip — a video
  24. pop — soda

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