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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 120 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's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rock — music
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. snap — to click
  7. degree — temperature
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. mark — a trace
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. clip — to cut
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. mark — a grade
  20. clip — for paper
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ground — a position
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bowl — a dish

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