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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
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: rest · spell · clip · degree · file · march · toast · ground

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — temperature
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. spell — a short time
  8. march — music
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — bread
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. file — a document
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — what's left
  17. ground — a position
  18. degree — an amount
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. file — a tool
  23. spell — magic
  24. degree — from a university

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