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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pit — a hole
  3. staff — employees
  4. clip — to cut
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. row — a line
  7. staff — a stick
  8. mark — a trace
  9. content — the amount
  10. staff — employees
  11. content — happy
  12. fine — all right
  13. pit — in a race
  14. degree — temperature
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. row — to paddle
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. fine — high quality
  22. clip — a video
  23. mark — a grade
  24. row — a quarrel

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