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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spell — a short time
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bulb — for light
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. clip — a video
  8. vault — a safe
  9. degree — from a university
  10. game — a match
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a music group
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. spell — letters
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. clip — for paper
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. band — a ring
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bulb — for light
  22. degree — temperature
  23. squash — to crush
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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