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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. race — a contest
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. degree — temperature
  8. march — music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — an amount
  11. march — the month
  12. hand — help
  13. race — humankind
  14. degree — from a university
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. race — the arms race
  17. rock — music
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. rock — a stone
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. clip — for paper
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rock — to move gently

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