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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  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. drill — the tool
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — a video
  4. firm — a company
  5. bound — tied together
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bound — obliged
  9. firm — decided
  10. clip — to cut
  11. row — a line
  12. clip — for paper
  13. degree — from a university
  14. ground — the earth
  15. drill — army training
  16. ground — a position
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spring — of water
  22. firm — steady
  23. bound — certain
  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