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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · race · cabinet · pop · press · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. clip — a video
  3. race — the arms race
  4. pop — music
  5. press — to push
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pop — to visit
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. race — a contest
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. degree — temperature
  13. race — humankind
  14. pop — soda
  15. degree — from a university
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard

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