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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. clip — a video
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — to cut
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. present — there
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lean — to bend
  11. squash — the sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. present — a gift
  15. present — the time now
  16. chest — of your body
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — size or range
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. chest — of your body
  21. clip — for paper
  22. band — a music group
  23. squash — to crush
  24. lean — to rest against

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