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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. bark — to shout
  9. degree — temperature
  10. clip — to cut
  11. object — to protest
  12. prune — to trim
  13. object — a thing
  14. charge — electricity
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. charge — a price
  19. prune — to trim
  20. charge — in control
  21. object — an aim
  22. court — of law
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. clip — for paper

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