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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — to cut
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pop — soda
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pit — in a race
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — a video
  14. field — a subject
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pit — a hole
  19. degree — an amount
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. pop — to visit
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. pop — music

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