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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. field — for sport
  5. land — ground
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. land — a country
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — an injury
  21. lean — to bend
  22. land — to come down
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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