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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. clip — for paper
  3. degree — temperature
  4. spell — letters
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. vault — a safe
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. rest — a break
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. rest — what's left
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. band — a ring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — a video
  18. band — a music group
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rest — what's left
  22. degree — an amount
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spell — magic

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