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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — for digging
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. stock — goods
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. chip — to eat
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. content — the amount
  12. wake — a trail
  13. chip — for betting
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. stock — shares
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. ruler — for measuring

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