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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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mate — a partner
  4. spell — a short time
  5. clip — for paper
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mate — to breed
  8. spell — letters
  9. game — a match
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. squash — the sport
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. plane — a tool
  18. mate — a friend
  19. squash — to crush
  20. spell — magic
  21. clip — to cut
  22. perch — the fish
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. plane — in geometry

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