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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 · game · date · wound · leaves · degree · wind · bore

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. game — a match
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bore — to drill
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. bore — to tire
  12. clip — a video
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — to cut
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — for paper
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. game — wild animals

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