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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — a video
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a city
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mug — a cup
  10. face — part of the head
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mug — a face
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mug — to rob
  20. stem — to come from
  21. capital — money
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fork — in a road
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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