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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. rule — government
  5. bore — to tire
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rule — a law
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. court — of a king
  17. craft — a skill
  18. craft — boats
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bore — to drill
  24. degree — temperature

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