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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — a city
  9. pit — a hole
  10. degree — an amount
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pit — in a race
  15. drill — army training
  16. mate — to breed
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — a video
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bark — of a tree

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