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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. deal — to handle
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bulb — for light
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. lie — to recline
  18. clip — a video
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. degree — temperature

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