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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. object — an aim
  7. press — newspapers
  8. fork — in a road
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — not warm
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cap — a lid
  14. chair — a leader
  15. object — a thing
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. press — a publisher
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. object — to protest
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cold — an illness

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