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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. swing — to play on
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. swing — music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wound — an injury
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — in golf
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pit — in a race
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. fall — the season

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