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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — crushed
  3. season — of the year
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. season — in sport
  6. ground — a position
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — from a university
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — in golf
  13. clip — for paper
  14. degree — an amount
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. swing — music
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. ground — the earth

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