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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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Word bank
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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: court · rash · pop · tube · net · clip · press · file

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — to visit
  3. file — a tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. pop — music
  6. press — newspapers
  7. press — to push
  8. court — for sport
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. net — for catching
  12. court — of a king
  13. file — a line of people
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — a container
  16. file — a document
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — in sport
  19. press — a publisher
  20. pop — soda
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rash — a series
  23. court — of law
  24. tube — the underground

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