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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 120 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: kick · cell · coach · arm · press · clip · rule · season

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. clip — to cut
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — government
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. clip — a video
  12. press — a publisher
  13. rule — a law
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. season — of the year
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. season — in sport
  24. kick — in football

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