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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ball — a great time
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cell — in biology
  5. plane — a tool
  6. degree — temperature
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a dance
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cell — a phone
  13. degree — an amount
  14. drill — the tool
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. mark — a trace
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. lean — thin
  23. mark — a grade
  24. drill — army training

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