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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. pound — to hit hard
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pound — a weight
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — from a university
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bear — the animal
  8. march — music
  9. clip — a video
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. march — the month
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — a series
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — to eat with
  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