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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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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: charge · degree · shower · fall · pass · prune · race · clip

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. fall — to drop
  3. prune — to trim
  4. fall — the season
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. clip — a video
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. charge — a price
  10. race — a contest
  11. clip — for paper
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. race — the arms race
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fall — to drop
  18. charge — electricity
  19. race — humankind
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pass — a permit
  22. shower — to wash
  23. charge — in control
  24. clip — to cut

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