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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.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. bear — the animal
  9. fine — all right
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bear — the animal
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. degree — temperature
  18. clip — a video

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