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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. clip — a video
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — a tin
  10. pound — a weight
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. clip — to cut
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chip — to eat
  16. clip — for paper
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bat — the animal
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. can — to be able to
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. chip — for betting

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