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

Word bank: clip · pass · saw · degree · swing · wake · rest · arm

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. swing — music
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. degree — temperature
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rest — a break
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. clip — a video
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. rest — what's left
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. swing — in golf
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rest — what's left
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. wake — a trail
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pass — a permit
  24. degree — an amount

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