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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. net — in sport
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — to cut
  7. file — a tool
  8. mate — a partner
  9. prune — to trim
  10. net — after costs
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. net — for catching
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. mate — a friend
  17. prune — to trim
  18. clip — for paper
  19. snap — to click
  20. mine — for digging
  21. file — a line of people
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. file — a document

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