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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · craft · degree · wind · mate · rest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — a video
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. craft — boats
  13. mate — a partner
  14. rest — what's left
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — to breed

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