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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. fine — all right
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. degree — from a university
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. key — in music
  11. fine — high quality
  12. rash — a series
  13. key — the most important part
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. degree — an amount
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — help

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