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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bound — tied together
  7. clip — to cut
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. capital — money
  10. bound — certain
  11. game — a match
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. clip — a video
  15. game — wild animals
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a city
  18. wax — to grow
  19. shower — rain
  20. plane — a tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. degree — from a university
  24. plane — an aircraft

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