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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bulb — for light
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. charge — electricity
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. charge — a price
  9. clip — to cut
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. clip — for paper
  12. key — in music
  13. file — a document
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. file — a line of people
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. charge — in control
  21. bulb — for light
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kid — child
  24. file — a tool

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