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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — a video
  5. swing — in golf
  6. can — a tin
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cue — a signal
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — music
  20. game — a match
  21. cue — a hint
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cue — for pool
  24. can — to be able to

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