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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 116 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: clip · pound · mug · pop · coach · tear · sharp · degree

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. clip — for paper
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. degree — temperature
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mug — a face
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pop — soda
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mug — to rob
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pound — a weight
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pop — to visit

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