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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. current — of water
  3. degree — an amount
  4. board — a committee
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — to play on
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. board — to get on
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. present — the time now
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. present — there
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. current — happening now
  22. present — a gift
  23. swing — in golf
  24. current — electric

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