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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. shower — to wash
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — temperature
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. stand — to bear
  7. firm — steady
  8. ground — crushed
  9. dip — to sink
  10. degree — from a university
  11. ground — a position
  12. firm — decided
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. ground — the earth
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. firm — a company
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. shower — rain
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stand — for spectators

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