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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. degree — an amount
  3. shower — rain
  4. row — a line
  5. bound — certain
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. degree — temperature
  8. prune — to trim
  9. degree — from a university
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — to cut
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — for paper
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. shower — to wash
  18. clip — a video
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bound — tied together
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. row — to paddle
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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