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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. shower — rain
  6. clip — for paper
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. land — a country
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bass — low music
  12. fall — the season
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. press — a publisher
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. clip — a video
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — ground
  20. bass — the fish
  21. press — newspapers
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. press — to push

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