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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bank — for money
  5. drill — army training
  6. bank — of a river
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bank — for money
  11. drill — a practice
  12. scale — in music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — the season
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — an amount
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. shower — rain
  22. drill — the tool
  23. spring — of water
  24. scale — size or range

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