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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. degree — an amount
  3. last — to go on
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — from a university
  6. clip — for paper
  7. fall — the season
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. ground — a position
  10. degree — temperature
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. fall — to drop
  13. suit — clothes
  14. club — for golf
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ground — the earth
  17. last — final
  18. ground — crushed
  19. suit — to fit
  20. clip — to cut
  21. perch — the fish
  22. last — finally
  23. suit — in cards
  24. club — a group

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