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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spell — a short time
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rock — a stone
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. field — for sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — for paper
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spell — magic
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. shower — rain
  17. degree — temperature
  18. clip — a video
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. field — a subject
  21. spell — letters
  22. shower — to wash
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bat — the animal

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