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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. ground — the earth
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pitch — completely
  12. ground — a position
  13. pit — a hole
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. kick — in football
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ground — crushed

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