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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — for paper
  5. court — of law
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — a position
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. court — of a king
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. fall — to drop
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — not warm
  24. court — for sport

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