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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: staff · degree · bore · row · tube · clip · leaves · march

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bore — to drill
  4. row — to paddle
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bore — to tire
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. march — the month
  10. tube — the underground
  11. degree — an amount
  12. staff — employees
  13. tube — a container
  14. march — music
  15. row — a line
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — a stick
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. march — the month
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. bore — gave birth

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