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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: track · press · clip · snap · cell · chair

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. snap — to click
  5. press — to push
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chair — a leader
  9. clip — a video
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cell — a phone
  14. press — a publisher
  15. cell — in biology
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cell — in a prison
  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