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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: drill · clip · cold · foot · cabinet · rule · degree · chair

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. rule — government
  4. clip — for paper
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. drill — a practice
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — a law
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. drill — army training
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. drill — the tool
  24. foot — a measure

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