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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: degree · snap · hand · bore · march · pound · clip · bound

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. pound — a weight
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — an amount
  7. march — the month
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bound — tied together
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bound — certain
  17. march — the month
  18. bound — obliged
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. clip — a video
  23. degree — from a university
  24. march — music

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