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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  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 — to cut
  2. degree — from a university
  3. face — to point toward
  4. key — for a lock
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — bread
  7. spring — the season
  8. face — to confront
  9. key — the most important part
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bank — for money
  13. mate — a partner
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bank — of a river
  16. key — in music
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. bank — for money
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. clip — for paper
  23. face — part of the head
  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