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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rule — government
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rule — a law
  14. cold — an illness
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spring — of water
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. spring — the season
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. nail — for a hammer

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