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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. ball — a dance
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ball — a great time
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — the season
  12. face — part of the head
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rush — hurry
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. face — to point toward
  20. clip — for paper
  21. face — to confront
  22. cell — a phone
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in a prison

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