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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — letters
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. stand — to bear
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pit — a hole
  14. spell — magic
  15. pit — in a race
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — for paper
  18. key — in music
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kid — to tease
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — for a lock

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