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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. ball — a dance
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bulb — for light
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. ball — a great time
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — a position
  22. kick — in football
  23. bulb — for light
  24. ball — a round shape

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