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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — to go on
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. lean — thin
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — final
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. last — finally
  9. bound — tied together
  10. clip — a video
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — hurry
  15. clip — for paper
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. bound — certain
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bound — obliged
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. lean — to bend

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