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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — for sport
  5. clip — to cut
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — a leader
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. press — to push
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kick — in football
  18. rule — government
  19. press — a publisher
  20. rule — a law
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. clip — a video
  24. racket — for tennis

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