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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: fork · wind · bound · chair · degree · root · squash · clip

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. fork — in a road
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. degree — an amount
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bound — tied together
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. root — the cause
  13. bound — certain
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — of a plant
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — the sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. clip — a video
  20. squash — to crush
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. root — of a word
  24. chair — a leader

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