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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. degree — an amount
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — music
  13. stem — to come from
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a city
  18. game — wild animals

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