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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 ball is in your ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — for sport
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. file — a tool
  5. pitch — completely
  6. clip — to cut
  7. band — a ring
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — for paper
  10. shower — rain
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. file — a document
  13. march — the month
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a hint
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. band — a music group
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a line of people
  21. march — music
  22. court — of law
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. cue — a signal

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