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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. ball — a great time
  3. present — a gift
  4. ball — a dance
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. clip — for paper
  8. sharp — clever
  9. stem — to come from
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — music
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. present — there
  14. present — the time now
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pop — to visit
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. stem — of a plant

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