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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. chest — of your body
  3. field — farmland
  4. vault — a safe
  5. track — a path
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. chest — a box
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — for paper
  13. scale — size or range
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. clip — to cut
  17. field — a subject
  18. track — a song
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. track — to keep track
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. field — for sport
  23. stock — shares
  24. deal — to handle

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