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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. clip — to cut
  3. march — the month
  4. hand — in cards
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — temperature
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. press — newspapers
  10. march — music
  11. vault — a safe
  12. press — a publisher
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. content — the amount
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. press — to push
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — from a university
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — happy
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. degree — an amount

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