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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. roll — a cake
  3. wound — an injury
  4. roll — a list
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mug — to rob
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. prune — to trim
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. mug — a face
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. clip — for paper
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mug — a cup
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ball — a great time
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bat — for baseball

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