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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. lean — thin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. band — a music group
  8. vault — a safe
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — money
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. clip — a video
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pit — a hole
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. track — a path
  19. pit — in a race
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. band — a ring
  22. track — a song
  23. capital — a city
  24. track — to keep track

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