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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. degree — temperature
  3. scale — in music
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. fall — to drop
  7. clip — for paper
  8. degree — from a university
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cold — not warm
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. clip — a video
  17. plane — a tool
  18. degree — an amount
  19. fall — the season
  20. scale — size or range
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. calf — a young animal

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