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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: pitcher · cue · clip · mine · pound · press · file · hand

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cue — for pool
  3. file — a document
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cue — a hint
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. press — newspapers
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. file — a tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pound — a weight
  18. press — to push
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cue — a signal
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — for digging
  24. clip — for paper

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