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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bank — for money
  4. clip — for paper
  5. board — a committee
  6. bank — for money
  7. clip — a video
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — temperature
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. pit — in a race
  19. spell — a short time
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — to cut
  24. board — to get on

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