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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. swing — music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. swing — to play on
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — in golf
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mine — for digging
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — an amount
  15. root — of a plant
  16. content — happy
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. clip — a video
  21. content — the amount
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — the cause
  24. pitch — completely

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