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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. craft — boats
  5. land — to come down
  6. board — to get on
  7. craft — a skill
  8. land — ground
  9. cell — a phone
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. clip — for paper
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wax — to grow
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cell — in biology
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. land — a country
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. board — a committee
  23. clip — to cut
  24. hide — to keep secret

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