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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 thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. ground — a position
  10. ball — a great time
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ball — a dance
  20. degree — temperature
  21. ground — crushed
  22. rash — a series
  23. chest — of your body
  24. clip — for paper

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