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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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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 · stick · file · present · degree · hide

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. present — a gift
  4. degree — an amount
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. degree — from a university
  7. clip — for paper
  8. present — the time now
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. clip — a video
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. file — a line of people
  14. clip — to cut
  15. present — there
  16. file — a document
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. file — a tool

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