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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: march · pitch · mug · clip · degree · rule · last · object

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  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. mug — a cup
  2. clip — a video
  3. rule — a law
  4. march — the month
  5. rule — government
  6. object — to protest
  7. clip — to cut
  8. last — final
  9. mug — to rob
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. mug — a face
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. pitch — completely
  16. clip — for paper
  17. march — music
  18. object — a thing
  19. march — the month
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. object — an aim
  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