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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: degree · stock · chest · mine · clip · key · bore · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. clip — a video
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bore — to drill
  6. degree — from a university
  7. clip — to cut
  8. key — the most important part
  9. stock — goods
  10. clip — for paper
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stock — shares
  13. degree — an amount
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. key — in music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bore — to tire
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. key — for a lock
  24. chest — a box

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