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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 116 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: degree · clip · wound · spell · pitcher · straw · mark · stand

  1. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. clip — a video
  3. stand — to bear
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. spell — magic
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. spell — a short time
  13. mark — a grade
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mark — a trace
  21. degree — temperature
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — an injury

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