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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. track — a path
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. rest — a break
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cap — a hat
  13. track — a song
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. clip — for paper
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cap — a lid
  20. rest — what's left
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cap — of ice
  23. kick — in football
  24. clip — to cut

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