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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stem — to come from
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rest — a break
  11. stand — to bear
  12. cold — not warm
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — to cut
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bark — of a tree

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