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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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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. lean — thin
  4. fall — to drop
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. lean — to bend
  8. track — a path
  9. face — to confront
  10. clip — a video
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. clip — to cut
  13. track — to keep track
  14. degree — an amount
  15. face — part of the head
  16. fall — the season
  17. fork — in a road
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. face — to point toward
  20. clip — for paper
  21. track — a song
  22. mine — for digging
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fork — a garden tool

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