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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — a video
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wound — an injury
  6. track — a path
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cue — a hint
  9. swing — to play on
  10. track — to keep track
  11. track — a song
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rule — a law
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cue — for pool
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. swing — music
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wax — to grow
  23. rule — government
  24. clip — to cut

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