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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: degree · saw · content · root · calf · rush · clip · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. fine — all right
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — for paper
  9. root — of a plant
  10. content — the amount
  11. rush — hurry
  12. content — happy
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. root — of a word
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. clip — to cut
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — temperature
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. root — the cause

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