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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bass — the fish
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — temperature
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. file — a tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. bass — low music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. file — a document
  20. clip — to cut
  21. date — the fruit
  22. branch — a division
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bass — the instrument

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