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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. fall — the season
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. spring — of water
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. clip — to cut
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. net — for catching
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — for paper
  15. march — the month
  16. foot — a measure
  17. march — music
  18. spring — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. stand — to bear
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. spring — a coil

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