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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — of a king
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. board — a committee
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. mark — a grade
  11. court — of law
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mark — a trace
  14. march — the month
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — to cut
  18. march — music
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. march — the month
  21. court — for sport
  22. board — to get on
  23. spell — letters
  24. wind — moving air

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