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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. clip — a video
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spell — letters
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. spell — magic
  13. stand — to bear
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rash — a series
  17. bass — the fish
  18. rash — hasty
  19. pound — a weight
  20. content — happy
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — low music
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pound — to hit hard

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