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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. sharp — clever
  5. squash — to crush
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. content — happy
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. degree — an amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. squash — the sport
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. staff — employees
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. content — the amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. clip — to cut

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