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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 my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pass — a permit
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. bound — certain
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bound — obliged
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. bound — tied together

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