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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. plane — a tool
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stand — to bear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. spring — the season
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. wind — moving air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — in biology
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — government
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. saw — the tool
  24. spring — of water

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