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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. present — there
  4. lie — to recline
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. root — of a plant
  7. degree — an amount
  8. clip — for paper
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. game — wild animals
  13. root — the cause
  14. present — a gift
  15. root — of a word
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. present — the time now
  21. degree — from a university
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. game — a match
  24. clip — a video

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