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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spring — a coil
  4. clip — to cut
  5. degree — an amount
  6. drill — a practice
  7. fine — high quality
  8. clip — a video
  9. fine — all right
  10. degree — from a university
  11. court — of law
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. court — for sport
  16. spring — the season
  17. drill — army training
  18. bank — for money
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — of water
  21. bank — for money
  22. drill — the tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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