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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. net — in sport
  3. rush — hurry
  4. tube — the underground
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. net — for catching
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. degree — temperature
  14. race — the arms race
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. race — humankind
  19. tube — a container
  20. chest — of your body
  21. net — after costs
  22. degree — from a university
  23. race — a contest
  24. tube — in a tire

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