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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. pit — in a race
  5. shower — rain
  6. degree — temperature
  7. foot — a measure
  8. pit — a hole
  9. degree — from a university
  10. shower — to wash
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. clip — a video
  16. mine — for digging
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — to sink
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. degree — an amount
  23. saw — the tool
  24. mine — an explosive

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