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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cold — not warm
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. suit — to fit
  7. face — part of the head
  8. suit — in cards
  9. degree — temperature
  10. land — ground
  11. scale — size or range
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — to shout
  14. suit — clothes
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. clip — a video
  19. scale — in music
  20. land — to come down
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. land — a country
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — to confront

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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