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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — a container
  4. march — music
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — a subject
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. bulb — for light
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. field — farmland
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — of a word
  21. march — the month
  22. field — for sport
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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