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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. ground — a position
  3. tube — a container
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. game — a match
  6. swing — music
  7. band — a ring
  8. swing — in golf
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tube — the underground
  13. band — a music group
  14. kid — child
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rock — music
  19. game — wild animals
  20. ground — the earth
  21. swing — to play on
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rock — a stone

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