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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. degree — temperature
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. net — in sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. court — of a king
  8. clip — a video
  9. net — after costs
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pop — to visit
  12. fine — all right
  13. cue — a hint
  14. pop — soda
  15. court — for sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. net — for catching
  18. court — of law
  19. pop — music
  20. cue — for pool
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. fine — high quality
  24. trunk — of a car

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