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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. degree — an amount
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — ground
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. clip — a video
  12. tube — the underground
  13. prune — to trim
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — a country
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. clip — for paper
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. scale — size or range
  24. tube — a container

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