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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. content — the amount
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — boats
  8. ground — a position
  9. present — there
  10. clip — for paper
  11. craft — a skill
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. ground — the earth
  14. present — the time now
  15. field — farmland
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. clip — to cut
  18. present — a gift
  19. ground — crushed
  20. stock — goods
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. stock — shares
  24. content — happy

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