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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. club — for golf
  3. mate — to breed
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. content — the amount
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cap — of ice
  10. club — a group
  11. content — happy
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. bat — the animal
  20. club — for dancing
  21. mate — a partner
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. clip — for paper
  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