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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. clip — a video
  3. land — a country
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — to cut
  6. land — ground
  7. last — finally
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. court — of law
  11. spring — a coil
  12. scale — in music
  13. court — of a king
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — for paper
  16. last — final
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — of water
  19. current — electric
  20. land — to come down
  21. spring — the season
  22. last — to go on
  23. lean — to bend
  24. lean — thin

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