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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. cap — of ice
  3. clip — for paper
  4. track — a path
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. lean — to bend
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. stand — to bear
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cap — a hat
  17. clip — to cut
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. cold — not warm
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. lean — thin

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