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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. foot — a measure
  5. file — a line of people
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — the amount
  8. sharp — clever
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. file — a document
  11. degree — temperature
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — a video
  19. content — happy
  20. march — the month
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. prune — to trim
  23. march — music
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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