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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bound — certain
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. drill — army training
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — final
  7. clip — a video
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bore — to drill
  10. last — finally
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to tire
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. last — to go on
  16. degree — temperature
  17. drill — the tool
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bound — tied together
  21. drill — a practice
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bound — obliged
  24. clip — to cut

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