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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rest — a break
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — in sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rest — what's left
  12. fine — high quality
  13. net — after costs
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — for catching
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fine — all right
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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