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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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. track — to keep track
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — music
  9. last — to go on
  10. degree — an amount
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. march — the month
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. clip — to cut
  16. track — a path
  17. last — finally
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. track — a song
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. march — the month
  23. mug — a cup
  24. last — final

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