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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. staff — a stick
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — temperature
  5. last — final
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. board — a committee
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. ground — crushed
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. staff — employees
  14. ground — a position
  15. staff — employees
  16. board — to get on
  17. last — finally
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. last — to go on
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. plane — a tool
  22. ground — the earth
  23. clip — to cut
  24. plane — in geometry

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