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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a match
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. clip — a video
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. suit — clothes
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. suit — in cards
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. suit — to fit
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bat — the animal

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