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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. swing — in golf
  2. chip — for betting
  3. press — newspapers
  4. clip — a video
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chip — to eat
  9. swing — music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — a box
  14. press — to push
  15. deal — to handle
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — to play on
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chest — of your body
  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