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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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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: staff · degree · rest · wind · tube · snap · mate · clip

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. rest — what's left
  3. tube — a container
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. degree — temperature
  6. staff — employees
  7. tube — the underground
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mate — to breed
  11. rest — a break
  12. mate — a partner
  13. rest — what's left
  14. snap — to click
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. degree — an amount
  17. clip — a video
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mate — a friend
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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