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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 120 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. chest — a box
  3. content — the amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. press — newspapers
  6. clip — to cut
  7. hand — in cards
  8. face — to point toward
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. face — to confront
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chest — of your body
  16. press — a publisher
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kid — child
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. content — happy
  22. kid — to tease
  23. press — to push
  24. face — part of the head

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