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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. bat — the animal
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. clip — to cut
  7. game — wild animals
  8. press — newspapers
  9. branch — a division
  10. tube — the underground
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. rash — a series
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. game — a match
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. tube — a container
  22. rash — hasty
  23. press — to push
  24. row — to paddle

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