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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. net — in sport
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. stock — shares
  6. squash — to crush
  7. stock — goods
  8. clip — to cut
  9. net — after costs
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. vault — a safe
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. net — for catching
  19. pass — a permit
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. squash — the sport
  22. tear — to rip
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. mine — belonging to me

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