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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. degree — temperature
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. clip — a video
  17. lie — to recline
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. shower — rain
  22. field — for sport
  23. shower — to wash
  24. field — farmland

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