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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cell — in biology
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. present — there
  11. press — a publisher
  12. clip — to cut
  13. game — a match
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. present — a gift
  16. shower — to wash
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — to push
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cell — a phone
  24. present — the time now

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