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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. club — a group
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. degree — from a university
  8. club — for dancing
  9. chair — a leader
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. clip — for paper
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hand — help
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. snap — to click
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice
  19. clip — a video
  20. hand — in cards
  21. club — for golf
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. trunk — of a car

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