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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. rule — government
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — to come from
  5. march — music
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. row — a line
  12. rule — a law
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — for paper
  15. track — a path
  16. row — to paddle
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. clip — to cut
  19. march — the month
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. net — for catching

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