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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. tube — the underground
  6. pop — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pop — to visit
  9. clip — a video
  10. rash — a series
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bear — the animal
  13. tube — a container
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pop — soda
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. ground — crushed
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bear — the animal
  24. clip — for paper

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