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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — a city
  6. rule — a law
  7. capital — money
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wind — moving air
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rule — government
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. clip — to cut
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cell — a phone
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wind — moving air

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