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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: straw · press · clip · snap · wind · scale · foot · firm

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. firm — a company
  3. press — a publisher
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. press — to push
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — moving air
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. clip — to cut
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — steady
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. press — newspapers
  15. wind — moving air
  16. scale — in music
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. foot — a measure
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. clip — a video
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. foot — the bottom

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