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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. press — to push
  3. content — happy
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — the amount
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — a video
  14. chest — of your body
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. press — a publisher
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. press — newspapers
  19. cell — a phone
  20. pass — a permit
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. chest — a box
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. pass — to succeed

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