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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — a video
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — an amount
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. prune — to trim
  11. degree — from a university
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ball — a dance
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. shower — rain
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. shower — to wash
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. scale — size or range
  22. degree — temperature
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. date — the fruit

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