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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. scale — in music
  4. field — farmland
  5. scale — size or range
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. land — to come down
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. content — happy
  10. land — a country
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. content — the amount
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — wild animals
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. game — a match
  17. rush — hurry
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. land — ground
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. rush — to hurry

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