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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 124 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. rock — music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. season — in sport
  7. clip — a video
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rock — a stone
  11. cold — an illness
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. clip — for paper
  15. board — to get on
  16. board — a committee
  17. season — of the year
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cold — not warm
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — temperature
  24. season — to add flavour

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