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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: bulb · hand · kick · degree · stick · clip · chair · temple

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — to cut
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — for light
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. hand — in cards
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — in football
  17. bulb — for light
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. degree — an amount
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — part of the body

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