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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. rush — hurry
  2. pit — a hole
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. saw — the tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pit — in a race
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. degree — an amount
  12. land — a country
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. land — ground
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — temperature
  21. land — to come down
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. clip — a video
  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