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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. bore — to drill
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. chip — to eat
  6. face — part of the head
  7. chip — for betting
  8. content — happy
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. content — the amount
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. face — to confront
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. face — to point toward
  23. degree — from a university
  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