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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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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. staff — employees
  3. present — there
  4. staff — employees
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pop — music
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. staff — a stick
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. pop — soda
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. present — the time now
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. pop — to visit
  20. clip — for paper
  21. present — a gift
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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