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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 124 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — a video
  4. cap — of ice
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cap — a lid
  7. hand — help
  8. press — to push
  9. wind — moving air
  10. press — newspapers
  11. chip — to eat
  12. track — a path
  13. press — a publisher
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wind — moving air
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. cap — a hat
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chip — for betting

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