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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · spring · lash · ball · shower · content · rule · degree

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. ball — a dance
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. content — the amount
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spring — of water
  9. clip — for paper
  10. shower — to wash
  11. degree — temperature
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. degree — an amount
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. content — happy
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. shower — rain
  19. rule — a law
  20. degree — from a university
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spring — the season
  23. ball — a great time
  24. spring — a coil

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