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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. land — ground
  3. current — happening now
  4. degree — from a university
  5. current — of water
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — an amount
  12. race — the arms race
  13. object — a thing
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. current — electric
  16. race — humankind
  17. land — to come down
  18. race — a contest
  19. object — an aim
  20. clip — for paper
  21. object — to protest
  22. row — a line
  23. land — a country
  24. row — to paddle

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