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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — a video
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. content — happy
  9. fork — in a road
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. shower — to wash
  13. content — the amount
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. press — newspapers
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. press — to push
  23. ground — the earth
  24. shower — rain

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