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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: hand · press · mark · game · deal · swing · branch · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. press — a publisher
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. mark — a grade
  5. clip — a video
  6. hand — in cards
  7. swing — in golf
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. swing — music
  12. press — to push
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mark — a trace
  19. hand — help
  20. branch — a division
  21. deal — to handle
  22. swing — to play on
  23. deal — a big deal
  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