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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.

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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 · kick · chip · clip · cue · season · cold · swing

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — to cut
  4. press — to push
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. season — of the year
  7. cue — for pool
  8. season — in sport
  9. swing — to play on
  10. press — a publisher
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cue — a hint
  13. clip — a video
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — for paper
  17. press — newspapers
  18. kick — in football
  19. swing — music
  20. chip — for betting
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. chip — to eat
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — in a computer

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