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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rock — music
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — a match
  7. land — a country
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. root — of a word
  11. rock — a stone
  12. clip — to cut
  13. game — wild animals
  14. root — the cause
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. land — ground
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. root — of a plant

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