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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: land · chest · snap · press · key · arm · clip · fine

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. 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. key — the most important part
  2. land — ground
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. chest — of your body
  5. snap — to click
  6. land — to come down
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. key — in music
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — to cut
  12. key — for a lock
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chest — of your body
  16. clip — a video
  17. land — a country
  18. chest — a box
  19. fine — high quality
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — to push
  23. fine — all right
  24. 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