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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. swing — in golf
  3. object — to protest
  4. swing — to play on
  5. degree — temperature
  6. swing — music
  7. track — a path
  8. rash — hasty
  9. degree — an amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. degree — from a university
  12. object — a thing
  13. clip — a video
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — a grade
  23. object — an aim
  24. mark — to pay attention

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