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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — clever
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — ground
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fall — to drop
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. saw — the tool
  12. land — a country
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. fall — the season
  15. object — an aim
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. object — a thing
  19. ball — a dance
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — to cut
  22. saw — the tool
  23. object — to protest
  24. ball — a great time

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