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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. drill — army training
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. drill — the tool
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. key — in music
  9. key — the most important part
  10. wake — a trail
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — an amount
  13. key — for a lock
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — a division
  16. file — a tool
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. file — a document
  22. drill — a practice
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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