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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stand — to bear
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. march — music
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. clip — to cut
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. march — the month
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wake — a trail
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. degree — from a university
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. game — a match
  20. clip — a video
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — for paper
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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