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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. degree — an amount
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pit — a hole
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wound — an injury
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — for paper
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pit — in a race
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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