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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — a video
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. land — ground
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. land — a country
  8. bound — obliged
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. ground — the earth
  11. land — to come down
  12. bound — tied together
  13. can — a tin
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. ground — a position
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. can — to be able to
  21. can — a tin
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. bound — certain
  24. ground — crushed

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