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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: date · wind · club · mark · clip · sharp · press · rule

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rule — government
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. date — the fruit
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mark — a trace
  8. press — to push
  9. club — a group
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. clip — for paper
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. press — a publisher
  16. wind — moving air
  17. club — for golf
  18. sharp — clever
  19. press — newspapers
  20. mark — a grade
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. rule — a law

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