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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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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. capital — money
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. saw — the tool
  7. track — a path
  8. clip — to cut
  9. capital — a city
  10. track — a song
  11. clip — for paper
  12. track — to keep track
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — a video
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — an amount

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