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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. land — to come down
  4. track — to keep track
  5. degree — from a university
  6. land — ground
  7. track — a path
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. land — a country
  18. track — a song
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. mine — for digging
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. mine — an explosive

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