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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. squash — the sport
  3. clip — to cut
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. squash — to crush
  9. present — a gift
  10. file — a document
  11. content — happy
  12. file — a tool
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. file — a line of people
  15. present — there
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. present — the time now
  22. branch — a division
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — a place of worship

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