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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · bass · kick · press · chair · fall

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kick — in football
  6. fall — the season
  7. bass — low music
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. chair — a leader
  10. press — to push
  11. clip — a video
  12. bass — the fish
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. clip — to cut
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers

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