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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — a container
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wound — an injury
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tube — the underground
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. rash — a series

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