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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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Word bank
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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — for paper
  3. drill — a practice
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — ground
  6. kick — in football
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bound — obliged
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. degree — from a university
  13. clip — to cut
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. drill — army training
  16. bound — tied together
  17. march — the month
  18. land — a country
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bound — certain
  23. march — music
  24. degree — temperature

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