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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fall — the season
  3. land — a country
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mark — a trace
  7. degree — from a university
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. land — ground
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mark — a grade
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bass — low music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mine — for digging
  24. perch — the fish

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