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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. craft — boats
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pit — a hole
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — to point toward
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. rest — a break
  13. deal — to handle
  14. rest — what's left
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. pit — in a race
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rest — what's left
  20. face — part of the head
  21. band — a music group
  22. capital — a city
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — an agreement

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