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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. degree — temperature
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — a video
  9. rest — what's left
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bulb — for light
  14. clip — to cut
  15. date — the fruit
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. mine — for digging
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bulb — for light
  21. degree — an amount
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. rest — a break

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