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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
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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: ball · clip · degree · file · last · staff · bear · fork

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. staff — a stick
  3. bear — the animal
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a line of people
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bear — the animal
  12. degree — temperature
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. ball — a great time
  15. degree — an amount
  16. staff — employees
  17. fork — in a road
  18. last — to go on
  19. staff — employees
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — finally

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