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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to click
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pass — a permit
  8. march — the month
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. current — of water
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. degree — an amount
  17. current — electric
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. current — happening now
  22. march — music
  23. degree — from a university
  24. march — the month

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