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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lean — thin
  3. current — electric
  4. spell — letters
  5. clip — to cut
  6. current — of water
  7. clip — for paper
  8. degree — temperature
  9. clip — a video
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. kid — to tease
  12. current — happening now
  13. content — the amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. board — to get on
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. kid — child
  24. board — a committee

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