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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pop — to visit
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chair — a leader
  6. pop — music
  7. clip — a video
  8. track — to keep track
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. kick — in football
  12. track — a path
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. degree — from a university
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pop — soda
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. track — a song

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