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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — rain
  4. mark — a grade
  5. field — farmland
  6. content — the amount
  7. bound — tied together
  8. field — a subject
  9. bound — certain
  10. bulb — for light
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bound — obliged
  13. clip — for paper
  14. mark — a trace
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — happy
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bulb — for light
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fall — the season
  22. shower — to wash
  23. field — for sport
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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