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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — decided
  3. firm — steady
  4. clip — to cut
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. press — to push
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — to paddle
  13. game — a match
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. file — a tool
  16. kick — in football
  17. row — a line
  18. file — a document
  19. press — a publisher
  20. clip — a video
  21. dip — to sink
  22. clip — for paper
  23. game — wild animals
  24. press — newspapers

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