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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rest — a break
  5. lean — thin
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. dip — to sink
  14. rest — what's left
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. lean — to bend
  17. land — to come down
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. degree — an amount
  23. land — a country
  24. racket — a loud noise

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