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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pop — music
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. clip — a video
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pop — soda
  10. pass — a permit
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pop — to visit
  13. cell — in biology
  14. pit — a hole
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pit — in a race
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — from a university

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