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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. rash — hasty
  7. season — in sport
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. drill — the tool
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. capital — a city
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — of the year
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. calf — a young animal

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