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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. spring — a coil
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. degree — an amount
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bat — the animal
  8. spell — letters
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bank — for money
  13. lie — to recline
  14. spring — the season
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — magic
  19. spring — of water
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — of a river
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. clip — a video
  24. lie — an untruth

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