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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · press · cold · fan · lie · sharp · file · chest

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. chest — of your body
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lie — to recline
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — to push
  14. clip — to cut
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. clip — for paper
  22. press — a publisher
  23. clip — a video
  24. chest — a box

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