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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mate — a partner
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rule — government
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. capital — a city
  10. mate — to breed
  11. capital — money
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — a law
  15. bark — to shout
  16. mate — a friend
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. pop — music
  23. bear — the animal
  24. pop — soda

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