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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. ground — the earth
  4. club — for golf
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. charge — a price
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — to tease
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ground — a position
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bass — the fish
  15. degree — from a university
  16. club — a group
  17. ground — crushed
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. charge — in control
  21. club — for dancing
  22. charge — electricity
  23. clip — a video
  24. degree — an amount

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