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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pound — a weight
  9. mark — a grade
  10. present — there
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wake — a trail
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. mark — a trace
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. present — a gift
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. clip — for paper
  21. sharp — clever
  22. clip — to cut
  23. present — the time now
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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