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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. clip — a video
  4. kick — in football
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — a law
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. clip — for paper
  18. dip — to sink
  19. wind — moving air
  20. clip — to cut
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. kick — a thrill

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