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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. row — a line
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pop — soda
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pop — music
  11. deal — to handle
  12. present — a gift
  13. clip — a video
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. degree — temperature
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — to visit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. clip — for paper
  23. present — there
  24. degree — an amount

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