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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — for sport
  3. stem — to come from
  4. march — music
  5. court — of law
  6. ball — a great time
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. court — of a king
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. staff — employees
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — a line
  16. staff — a stick
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. staff — employees
  20. clip — for paper
  21. march — the month
  22. ball — a dance
  23. march — the month
  24. row — to paddle

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