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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. court — for sport
  4. root — of a word
  5. bass — low music
  6. root — the cause
  7. clip — for paper
  8. root — of a plant
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. branch — a division
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pitch — completely
  14. court — of a king
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. bass — the fish
  18. court — of law
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — a video
  23. degree — from a university
  24. branch — of a bank

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