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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cap — of ice
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ball — a great time
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. ball — a dance
  15. game — a match
  16. capital — money
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — a city
  20. game — wild animals
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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