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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 King held a masked ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. fall — the season
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ball — a great time
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — government
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — to cut
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. ground — a position
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. sharp — clever
  24. clip — for paper

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