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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pound — a weight
  4. spell — magic
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spell — a short time
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. mate — to breed
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spell — letters
  17. mate — a friend
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. content — happy
  20. mate — a partner
  21. clip — for paper
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. clip — a video

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