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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: mine · degree · key · wave · pit · spring · clip · content

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mine — for digging
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. clip — for paper
  5. key — in music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. degree — temperature
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — the season
  16. degree — from a university
  17. key — for a lock
  18. clip — a video
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — the amount
  23. key — the most important part
  24. wave — of the sea

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