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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. last — to go on
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. degree — temperature
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. deal — to handle
  10. last — finally
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. snap — to click
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pass — a permit
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. pound — a weight

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