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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mug — a face
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. face — to confront
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mate — a friend
  8. scale — size or range
  9. clip — to cut
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. face — to point toward
  13. mug — to rob
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — a video
  16. court — of a king
  17. face — part of the head
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mug — a cup
  20. degree — temperature
  21. scale — in music
  22. mate — to breed
  23. branch — a division
  24. mate — a partner

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