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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.

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: net · land · bore · mouse · degree · clip · bowl · foot

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. foot — a measure
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. clip — to cut
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — a country
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. degree — temperature
  17. net — for catching
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bore — to drill
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bore — gave birth

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