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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. cap — a lid
  4. bore — to tire
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bear — the animal
  7. clip — for paper
  8. sharp — clever
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cap — a hat
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cap — of ice
  14. rule — a law
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — an illness
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. clip — a video
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bore — to drill
  22. rule — government
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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