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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 116 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: press · wave · clip · net · coach · bat · snap · tear

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. clip — a video
  3. tear — from crying
  4. net — for catching
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. tear — to rip
  10. press — a publisher
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — newspapers
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. net — in sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. clip — for paper
  21. snap — to click
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — after costs
  24. press — to push

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