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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wake — a trail
  6. last — final
  7. degree — temperature
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. pitch — completely
  11. spell — magic
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. race — a contest
  15. clip — a video
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. present — there
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. clip — to cut
  21. present — the time now
  22. degree — from a university
  23. present — a gift
  24. spell — letters

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