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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. clip — a video
  4. last — final
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lean — to bend
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. clip — to cut
  10. last — to go on
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. root — of a plant
  13. degree — temperature
  14. charge — electricity
  15. root — the cause
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. root — of a word
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — a price
  24. last — finally

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