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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. race — a contest
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. march — the month
  6. stock — shares
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. race — the arms race
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. scale — in music
  20. clip — for paper
  21. race — humankind
  22. stock — goods
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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