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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. bass — low music
  3. firm — decided
  4. scale — size or range
  5. firm — steady
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bank — of a river
  8. degree — from a university
  9. land — a country
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. degree — temperature
  12. scale — in music
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. firm — a company
  16. bass — the fish
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitch — completely
  24. clip — a video

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