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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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468
Word bank
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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. root — of a word
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. spell — letters
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. root — the cause
  10. march — music
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. march — the month
  13. spell — a short time
  14. clip — to cut
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. kick — in football
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — hurry
  21. march — the month
  22. spell — magic
  23. root — of a plant
  24. chair — a leader

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