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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. rash — hasty
  5. land — ground
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. hand — help
  9. land — to come down
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bank — for money
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — a series
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. land — a country
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cabinet — ministers

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