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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. object — to protest
  7. bear — the animal
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. present — there
  11. object — an aim
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bear — the animal
  16. plane — a tool
  17. present — a gift
  18. band — a music group
  19. cold — not warm
  20. shower — to wash
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. present — the time now
  23. object — a thing
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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