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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 116 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. drill — a practice
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. squash — to crush
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. lean — to bend
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — an illness
  10. drill — the tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. squash — the sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. clip — for paper
  16. drill — army training
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pitch — completely
  21. tear — from crying
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lean — thin

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