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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. court — of law
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. court — for sport
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. bank — for money
  15. root — the cause
  16. squash — to crush
  17. court — of a king
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bank — for money
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. root — of a word
  23. race — a contest
  24. bank — of a river

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