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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. row — a line
  3. row — to paddle
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. key — the most important part
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kick — in football
  13. degree — temperature
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pitch — completely
  18. clip — for paper
  19. key — in music
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — a quarrel

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