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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. degree — an amount
  3. band — a ring
  4. suit — in cards
  5. degree — from a university
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. roll — a cake
  8. mine — for digging
  9. rush — hurry
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. band — a music group
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. suit — to fit
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. suit — clothes
  19. sharp — clever
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. roll — a list
  22. clip — for paper
  23. degree — temperature
  24. clip — a video

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