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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — an amount
  3. firm — a company
  4. clip — for paper
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stand — to bear
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bulb — for light
  11. firm — steady
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. clip — to cut
  17. firm — decided
  18. band — a ring
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — an illness
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. band — a music group
  23. clip — a video
  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