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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. net — for catching
  3. drill — a practice
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. net — after costs
  11. cap — a hat
  12. suit — to fit
  13. suit — clothes
  14. wake — a trail
  15. degree — temperature
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kid — child
  19. drill — army training
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. clip — a video
  22. net — in sport
  23. suit — in cards
  24. drill — the tool

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