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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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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: press · swing · clip · bass · hand · tube · cold · staff

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. clip — to cut
  3. tube — the underground
  4. swing — music
  5. hand — help
  6. tube — a container
  7. swing — to play on
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. hand — in cards
  11. press — to push
  12. cold — an illness
  13. staff — a stick
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — newspapers
  18. swing — in golf
  19. press — a publisher
  20. bass — low music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bass — the fish
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cold — not warm

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