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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — a country
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. clip — a video
  6. club — a group
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — temperature
  9. face — part of the head
  10. land — to come down
  11. club — for dancing
  12. chair — a leader
  13. face — to confront
  14. club — for golf
  15. clip — for paper
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. face — to point toward
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — ground

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