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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. clip — to cut
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. face — to confront
  7. clip — a video
  8. land — to come down
  9. bound — certain
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bound — tied together
  12. season — in sport
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bound — obliged
  15. face — to point toward
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. land — a country
  18. pit — in a race
  19. face — part of the head
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — music
  23. land — ground
  24. degree — temperature

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