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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wind — moving air
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bat — the animal
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. key — in music
  17. key — for a lock
  18. mine — for digging
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. plane — a tool
  24. key — the most important part

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