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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. row — a line
  4. clip — to cut
  5. scale — in music
  6. swing — music
  7. lean — to bend
  8. court — of a king
  9. scale — size or range
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. lean — thin
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. swing — in golf
  22. race — humankind
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. swing — to play on

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