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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bass — low music
  3. row — a line
  4. clip — for paper
  5. field — for sport
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. squash — the sport
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. sharp — clever
  14. row — to paddle
  15. squash — to crush
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bass — the fish
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. field — a subject
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. field — farmland
  24. nail — for a hammer

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