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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. court — of a king
  5. face — part of the head
  6. swing — in golf
  7. kick — in football
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. clip — to cut
  12. land — ground
  13. swing — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tube — the underground
  16. land — to come down
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. clip — a video
  19. face — to confront
  20. court — of law
  21. tube — a container
  22. land — a country
  23. court — for sport
  24. face — to point toward

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