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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. degree — an amount
  12. field — for sport
  13. object — to protest
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. clip — to cut
  18. object — a thing
  19. wind — moving air
  20. field — farmland
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mate — to breed
  23. object — an aim
  24. field — a subject

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