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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. dip — to sink
  3. fall — to drop
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. field — for sport
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. fall — the season
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. sharp — clever
  11. field — farmland
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. craft — a skill
  19. capital — money
  20. craft — boats
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. field — a subject
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — a city

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