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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. court — of a king
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. degree — temperature
  6. key — for a lock
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. court — for sport
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. key — the most important part
  13. stem — to come from
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. court — of law
  16. fine — all right
  17. game — a match
  18. fine — high quality
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. clip — a video
  23. key — in music
  24. clip — for paper

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