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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. staff — employees
  6. clip — a video
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. degree — an amount
  9. sharp — clever
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bass — the fish
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — employees
  15. face — to confront
  16. staff — a stick
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bass — low music
  19. face — part of the head
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mark — a grade
  23. face — to point toward
  24. mark — a trace

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