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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — a video
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — to cut
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kid — to tease
  11. ground — the earth
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. ground — crushed
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — goods
  17. kid — child
  18. object — an aim
  19. ground — a position
  20. pitch — completely
  21. stock — shares
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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