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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — a thing
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. march — the month
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pit — a hole
  12. object — to protest
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. swing — music
  15. march — music
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. degree — temperature
  20. march — the month
  21. snap — to click
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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