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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. object — to protest
  3. object — a thing
  4. mug — to rob
  5. rash — a series
  6. degree — temperature
  7. object — an aim
  8. clip — a video
  9. rash — hasty
  10. court — for sport
  11. cap — a hat
  12. court — of law
  13. net — after costs
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cap — a lid
  17. court — of a king
  18. net — in sport
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cap — of ice
  22. mug — a cup
  23. net — for catching
  24. mug — a face

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