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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. spring — the season
  5. degree — from a university
  6. mine — for digging
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spring — of water
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. degree — an amount
  17. clip — to cut
  18. spring — a coil
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. safe — out of danger

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