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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a line
  5. clip — for paper
  6. prune — to trim
  7. object — a thing
  8. scale — in music
  9. rush — hurry
  10. object — to protest
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. fine — all right
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fine — high quality
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bat — the animal
  21. row — to paddle
  22. object — an aim
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. scale — size or range

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