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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. degree — an amount
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — to tease
  10. prune — to trim
  11. degree — from a university
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — a law
  14. face — to confront
  15. clip — for paper
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rule — government
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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