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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. bass — the fish
  3. last — final
  4. press — to push
  5. last — finally
  6. court — for sport
  7. cue — a signal
  8. bass — low music
  9. cue — a hint
  10. press — newspapers
  11. clip — a video
  12. degree — from a university
  13. press — a publisher
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. last — to go on
  23. cue — for pool
  24. clip — for paper

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