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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — temperature
  5. last — finally
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — the tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wind — moving air
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. wind — moving air
  19. drill — army training
  20. pass — a permit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. drill — a practice
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wind — to turn a key

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