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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. stand — to bear
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fall — the season
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kid — child
  16. drill — the tool
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. drill — a practice
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — from a university
  23. drill — army training
  24. stand — on your feet

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