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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. court — of a king
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — music
  9. root — of a word
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. root — the cause
  13. root — of a plant
  14. face — part of the head
  15. kid — child
  16. face — to point toward
  17. court — of law
  18. face — to confront
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. court — for sport
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — for paper
  23. degree — from a university
  24. march — the month

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