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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. club — for golf
  3. clip — a video
  4. wake — a trail
  5. tube — a container
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — to cut
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. scale — size or range
  12. ground — the earth
  13. degree — from a university
  14. club — a group
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. ground — crushed
  17. degree — an amount
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tube — the underground
  20. scale — in music
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stand — to bear
  24. wake — before a funeral

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