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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 124 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — a video
  3. rule — a law
  4. clip — for paper
  5. scale — in music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. scale — size or range
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. kick — in football
  11. file — a document
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. clip — to cut
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. file — a tool
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rule — government
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. file — a line of people

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