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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — a video
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mine — for digging
  9. squash — to crush
  10. net — in sport
  11. suit — clothes
  12. clip — to cut
  13. suit — to fit
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. squash — the sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. degree — an amount
  19. press — a publisher
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. press — newspapers
  22. degree — from a university
  23. press — to push
  24. net — for catching

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