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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fall — to drop
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. clip — a video
  10. fall — the season
  11. suit — in cards
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. press — to push
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. shower — rain
  16. suit — to fit
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fall — to drop
  19. suit — clothes
  20. press — newspapers
  21. shower — to wash
  22. game — a match
  23. press — a publisher
  24. clip — to cut

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