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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bound — certain
  5. rest — what's left
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. degree — temperature
  8. band — a music group
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bound — tied together
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rest — a break
  14. bound — obliged
  15. band — a ring
  16. clip — a video
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bear — the animal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wind — moving air
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — an amount
  24. band — a rubber band

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