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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. clip — a video
  2. pit — a hole
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. bass — the fish
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bass — low music
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pit — in a race
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. clip — to cut
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  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