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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. pound — a weight
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chair — a leader
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. race — a contest
  10. charge — electricity
  11. press — to push
  12. hand — in cards
  13. clip — to cut
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. race — the arms race
  17. snap — to click
  18. press — a publisher
  19. press — newspapers
  20. charge — a price
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. charge — in control
  23. race — humankind
  24. hand — help

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