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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. chest — a box
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. chest — of your body
  13. net — for catching
  14. ball — a great time
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. ball — a dance
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tube — a container
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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