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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. clip — to cut
  3. band — a music group
  4. land — to come down
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. spring — the season
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. clip — a video
  11. current — electric
  12. band — a ring
  13. spring — of water
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. land — a country
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. current — happening now
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. current — of water
  24. clip — for paper

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