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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.

Make a worksheet

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: mark · clip · pitch · fan · degree · wound · lash · ground

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pitch — completely
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ground — the earth
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ground — crushed
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. degree — an amount
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a grade
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ground — a position
  24. degree — temperature

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