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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — a gift
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — temperature
  8. file — a line of people
  9. clip — a video
  10. file — a tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. degree — from a university
  15. track — to keep track
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. clip — to cut
  18. track — a path
  19. degree — an amount
  20. clip — for paper
  21. vault — a safe
  22. file — a document
  23. kick — in football
  24. track — a song

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