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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — to cut
  3. land — ground
  4. chip — to eat
  5. kick — in football
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — a video
  8. tear — from crying
  9. press — newspapers
  10. tear — to rip
  11. press — a publisher
  12. chip — for betting
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tear — from crying
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wake — a trail
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. land — a country
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. press — to push
  24. patient — a sick person

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