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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a city
  3. prune — to trim
  4. court — of a king
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. tube — the underground
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. tube — a container
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. prune — to trim
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. capital — money
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. saw — the tool

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