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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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. field — farmland
  4. content — happy
  5. rash — a series
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — a match
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — the most important part
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. key — in music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stand — to bear
  15. field — a subject
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. content — the amount
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rash — hasty
  22. field — for sport
  23. game — wild animals
  24. stand — on your feet

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