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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. roll — a list
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. object — a thing
  6. bass — low music
  7. rest — what's left
  8. object — an aim
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — a video
  11. degree — an amount
  12. object — to protest
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. degree — temperature
  15. clip — to cut
  16. roll — a cake
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. rest — a break
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. bass — the fish
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kick — in football

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