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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. snap — to click
  3. cell — a phone
  4. suit — to fit
  5. suit — clothes
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. wound — an injury
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. suit — in cards
  21. cell — in biology
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. land — a country

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