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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 116 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — temperature
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. ground — a position
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. ground — the earth
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. march — the month
  16. fine — all right
  17. ground — crushed
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cap — a lid
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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