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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. stand — to bear
  4. sharp — clever
  5. clip — for paper
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — a position
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. ground — the earth
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. race — humankind
  16. degree — temperature
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. fork — in a road
  20. race — a contest
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fork — to eat with

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