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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: straw · press · chest · cue · dip · degree · clip · craft

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. press — to push
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cue — a signal
  8. craft — a skill
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cue — for pool
  11. press — newspapers
  12. degree — an amount
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chest — a box
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cue — a hint
  17. press — a publisher
  18. chest — of your body
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. degree — from a university
  21. dip — to sink
  22. craft — boats
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. degree — temperature

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