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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 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. spell — magic
  3. swing — to play on
  4. key — in music
  5. swing — in golf
  6. key — for a lock
  7. clip — to cut
  8. court — for sport
  9. spell — a short time
  10. key — the most important part
  11. spell — letters
  12. swing — music
  13. net — for catching
  14. court — of law
  15. net — after costs
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — for paper
  18. net — in sport

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