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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. shower — rain
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. mate — a partner
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bore — to drill
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bore — to tire

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