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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. field — farmland
  3. present — there
  4. field — for sport
  5. scale — in music
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. roll — a list
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. clip — to cut
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. roll — a cake

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