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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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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: season · cue · clip · cabinet · bark · wind · degree · lie

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cue — a hint
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. degree — from a university
  14. season — in sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. season — of the year
  17. wind — moving air
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. lie — to recline
  23. cue — a signal
  24. clip — to cut

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