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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. season — of the year
  3. current — electric
  4. capital — a city
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. current — happening now
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. bark — to shout
  12. spring — the season
  13. capital — money
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. clip — to cut
  17. march — music
  18. clip — for paper
  19. march — the month
  20. season — in sport
  21. fork — in a road
  22. current — of water
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — a big letter

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