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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. press — to push
  6. present — there
  7. clip — for paper
  8. press — newspapers
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — a practice
  11. present — the time now
  12. clip — a video
  13. present — a gift
  14. chair — a leader
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. drill — army training
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chip — for betting
  23. straw — a straw man
  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