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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. face — part of the head
  4. clip — a video
  5. rash — hasty
  6. fork — in a road
  7. club — a group
  8. face — to point toward
  9. shower — rain
  10. press — a publisher
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. club — for dancing
  13. press — to push
  14. rash — a series
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — for paper
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — to cut
  21. club — for golf
  22. chair — a leader
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. face — to confront

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