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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hand — help
  5. bound — obliged
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bound — tied together
  9. chest — of your body
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. press — a publisher
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chest — a box
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bound — certain
  18. clip — a video
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. hand — in cards

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