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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. field — for sport
  3. staff — a stick
  4. chest — a box
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. rule — government
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. sharp — clever
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — a subject
  15. fine — high quality
  16. field — farmland
  17. rule — a law
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. staff — employees
  20. fine — all right
  21. clip — to cut
  22. staff — employees
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wind — moving air

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