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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spell — magic
  6. rule — government
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. pit — in a race
  10. branch — a division
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. spell — a short time
  15. clip — for paper
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spell — letters
  18. pit — a hole
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. clip — a video
  24. rule — a law

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