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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. degree — from a university
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. shower — rain
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. clip — to cut
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — to wash
  17. clip — for paper
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. march — the month
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cell — a phone
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to spend time

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