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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 124 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. court — of a king
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. key — the most important part
  6. stem — to come from
  7. court — for sport
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. drill — army training
  14. key — for a lock
  15. tear — to rip
  16. key — in music
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — of law
  20. drill — the tool
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. drill — a practice
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. arm — part of the body

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