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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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468
Word bank
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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. season — of the year
  3. scale — in music
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. net — for catching
  6. rest — a break
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. rush — hurry
  13. net — in sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. season — in sport
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — temperature
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. net — after costs

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