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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cell — a phone
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — to keep track
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. press — newspapers
  9. tear — from crying
  10. drill — army training
  11. clip — to cut
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — in biology
  16. press — to push
  17. track — a path
  18. snap — to click
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. clip — for paper
  21. drill — a practice
  22. track — a song
  23. tear — to rip
  24. press — a publisher

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