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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — of law
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. march — the month
  5. clip — to cut
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. track — a song
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rush — hurry
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. track — a path
  18. mine — for digging
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. track — to keep track
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. squash — to crush

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