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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 116 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. plane — a tool
  7. clip — to cut
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cell — in biology
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pit — in a race
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. trunk — of a tree

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