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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 116 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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — a video
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — an amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rest — a break
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. rest — what's left
  22. net — after costs
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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