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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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 — an amount
  2. spell — a short time
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. spell — letters
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — hasty
  12. face — part of the head
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. clip — for paper
  16. court — of a king
  17. mate — a friend
  18. court — of law
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — to breed
  21. degree — from a university
  22. court — for sport
  23. spell — magic
  24. clip — a video

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