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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rock · wind · fine · degree · nail · clip · season · cold

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rock — a stone
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rock — music
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fine — high quality
  17. fine — all right
  18. clip — a video
  19. degree — from a university
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. season — in sport

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