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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. degree — temperature
  3. present — a gift
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — a video
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. scale — size or range
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. tear — to rip
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — from crying
  15. present — the time now
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. clip — for paper
  22. present — there
  23. scale — in music
  24. patient — a sick person

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