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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. field — a subject
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. present — a gift
  9. scale — size or range
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — farmland
  14. scale — in music
  15. present — the time now
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — to grow
  21. present — there
  22. cell — a phone
  23. clip — to cut
  24. field — for sport

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