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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 you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. march — music
  4. degree — temperature
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kid — child
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — the month
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — to keep track
  16. foot — a measure
  17. track — a song
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hand — in cards
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. track — a path

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