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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. stem — to come from
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — a subject
  5. charge — a price
  6. bark — to shout
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. field — for sport
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. charge — electricity
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. ground — a position
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. field — farmland
  21. clip — to cut
  22. charge — in control
  23. wind — moving air
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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