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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. capital — money
  5. plane — a tool
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — to cut
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kid — to tease
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. clip — for paper
  19. dip — to sink
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. capital — a city
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. mine — for digging

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