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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chip — to eat
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pound — a weight
  8. suit — in cards
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chip — for betting
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. degree — from a university
  16. suit — clothes
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. suit — to fit
  19. sharp — clever
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pound — to hit hard

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