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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rush — hurry
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. hand — help
  11. fork — in a road
  12. spring — of water
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. spring — the season
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — a video
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. fork — to eat with

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