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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. degree — from a university
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — a video
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — temperature
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — a line
  11. land — a country
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. clip — to cut
  14. perch — the fish
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. row — to paddle
  18. fall — to drop
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — an amount
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. fall — the season
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to spend time

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