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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 120 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 stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. clip — a video
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a match
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. clip — for paper
  10. vault — a safe
  11. drill — the tool
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. fall — to drop
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. field — a subject
  18. fall — the season
  19. game — wild animals
  20. drill — a practice
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. hand — help
  23. drill — army training
  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