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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · root · march · pitch · fan · lash · clip · ground

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. clip — to cut
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — the earth
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. march — the month
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. march — the month
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. march — music
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ground — crushed
  16. root — of a word
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. root — of a plant
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ground — a position
  24. root — the cause

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