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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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Word bank
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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. present — a gift
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. present — there
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. clip — to cut
  14. degree — temperature
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — letters
  20. clip — a video
  21. plane — a tool
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. spell — magic
  24. present — the time now

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