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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. fine — all right
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. clip — a video
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. mark — a grade
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. stem — to come from
  13. content — the amount
  14. clip — to cut
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. mark — a trace
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — completely
  22. fine — high quality
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — happy

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