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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. press — a publisher
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — for sport
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. face — part of the head
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. plane — a tool
  9. press — newspapers
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — low music
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. bass — the fish
  14. press — to push
  15. hand — in cards
  16. field — a subject
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — for paper
  19. hand — help
  20. face — to confront
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — farmland
  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