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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. snap — to click
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. clip — a video
  9. rock — a stone
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — from a university
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. spring — of water
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. spring — the season
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. clip — for paper
  20. rock — music
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — temperature
  23. root — of a plant
  24. pound — a weight

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