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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pit — in a race
  4. season — of the year
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fall — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. game — a match
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — temperature
  12. net — after costs
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fall — to drop
  17. net — in sport
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — in sport
  22. fall — to drop
  23. degree — an amount
  24. vault — a safe

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