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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — a video
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. clip — for paper
  5. drill — the tool
  6. degree — temperature
  7. object — to protest
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. court — of a king
  11. pound — a weight
  12. hand — help
  13. degree — from a university
  14. object — a thing
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. hand — in cards
  18. object — an aim
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — to cut
  21. drill — army training
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. degree — an amount

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