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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. scale — size or range
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pit — in a race
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — crushed
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pit — a hole
  21. bear — the animal
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. ground — the earth
  24. scale — in music

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