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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. club — for golf
  3. net — after costs
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. net — for catching
  6. clip — for paper
  7. root — the cause
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. club — for dancing
  11. mug — a cup
  12. root — of a word
  13. net — in sport
  14. mug — to rob
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mug — a face
  17. club — a group
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. tear — from crying
  22. root — of a plant
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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