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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. present — the time now
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rush — hurry
  5. present — a gift
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bark — to shout
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mine — for digging
  13. lean — to bend
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. present — there
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. clip — a video
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. lean — thin
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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