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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — certain
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bat — the animal
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — from crying
  10. season — in sport
  11. pop — soda
  12. tear — from crying
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tear — to rip
  17. vault — a safe
  18. degree — temperature
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. degree — an amount
  22. clip — a video
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. degree — from a university

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