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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  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. cold — an illness
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — temperature
  5. net — in sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. firm — decided
  8. saw — the tool
  9. firm — a company
  10. net — for catching
  11. cold — not warm
  12. suit — in cards
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. saw — the tool
  16. content — happy
  17. suit — to fit
  18. content — the amount
  19. net — after costs
  20. suit — clothes
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. firm — steady
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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