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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 124 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. tear — from crying
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. net — in sport
  5. land — ground
  6. bark — to shout
  7. clip — for paper
  8. land — a country
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. land — to come down
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. perch — the fish
  13. tear — to rip
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. clip — to cut
  17. net — after costs
  18. band — a music group
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. net — for catching
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — from crying
  24. band — a ring

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