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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. swing — to play on
  7. kick — in football
  8. swing — in golf
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. degree — temperature
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. rock — a stone
  17. clip — a video
  18. rock — 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