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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ball — a great time
  4. current — happening now
  5. fork — in a road
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. mark — a trace
  10. current — electric
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. last — to go on
  14. mark — a grade
  15. last — final
  16. clip — to cut
  17. last — finally
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — rain
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. current — of water
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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