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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 120 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: capital · game · degree · clip · object · leaves · bore · dip

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. degree — an amount
  3. object — to protest
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. bore — to tire
  6. degree — temperature
  7. game — wild animals
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bore — to drill
  11. clip — a video
  12. object — a thing
  13. game — a match
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. dip — to sink
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. object — an aim
  18. capital — money
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. clip — for paper
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — to cut
  24. capital — a city

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