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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. ground — the earth
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ground — a position
  7. spring — of water
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. spring — the season
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bark — to shout
  13. chip — to eat
  14. clip — a video
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chip — for betting
  17. fork — in a road
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. ground — crushed
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bass — low music
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fork — a garden tool

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