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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. suit — in cards
  3. degree — from a university
  4. clip — to cut
  5. lean — thin
  6. staff — employees
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — to come from
  11. suit — to fit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. saw — the tool
  16. suit — clothes
  17. shower — to wash
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. saw — the tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lean — to bend
  22. clip — a video
  23. shower — rain
  24. lean — to rest against

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