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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rock · wake · fan · clip · sharp · kid · chest · press

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — a video
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. rock — music
  7. press — a publisher
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — child
  12. press — newspapers
  13. rock — a stone
  14. press — to push
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kid — to tease
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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