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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cap — a hat
  5. roll — a list
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. tube — a container
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. cap — of ice
  10. net — after costs
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. net — for catching
  17. clip — a video
  18. snap — to click
  19. cap — a lid
  20. net — in sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. toast — bread
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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