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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. degree — temperature
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cap — of ice
  11. clip — a video
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. degree — from a university
  14. file — a document
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — a country
  17. cap — a hat
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. file — a tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. degree — an amount
  22. clip — for paper
  23. perch — the fish
  24. mouse — for a computer

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