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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. clip — to cut
  3. degree — from a university
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pit — in a race
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fork — in a road
  11. scale — in music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. scale — size or range

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