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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. march — music
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bound — obliged
  7. chair — a leader
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. march — the month
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bound — certain
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bound — tied together
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. clip — for paper

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