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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 116 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. clip — to cut
  3. snap — to click
  4. cap — a lid
  5. degree — an amount
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. cap — of ice
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. hand — help
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. mate — a friend
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cap — a hat
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mate — a partner
  22. clip — a video
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. hand — part of the body

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