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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. clip — a video
  4. staff — a stick
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — of a king
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. staff — employees
  11. cap — a hat
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — an amount
  14. court — of law
  15. degree — temperature
  16. staff — employees
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a lid
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — completely

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