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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rest — what's left
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. net — in sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rest — what's left
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rest — a break
  11. mug — a cup
  12. prune — to trim
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mug — to rob
  15. net — after costs
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — to cut
  18. net — for catching
  19. wound — an injury
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — a video
  22. plane — a tool
  23. mug — a face
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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