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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. degree — an amount
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. game — a match
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bore — to tire
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — clever
  19. rule — a law
  20. game — wild animals
  21. content — happy
  22. kid — child
  23. bore — to drill
  24. degree — from a university

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