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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. land — a country
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — for paper
  6. land — to come down
  7. spring — the season
  8. sharp — clever
  9. rule — government
  10. spring — a coil
  11. clip — to cut
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. snap — to click
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. spring — of water
  17. land — ground
  18. rule — a law
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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