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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bound — tied together
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. clip — a video
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bound — obliged
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. bear — the animal
  17. clip — to cut
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. field — a subject
  20. ball — a dance
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. ball — a great time

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